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SCENES 



ADYENTURES 



|mi-Stl|iinE lltgion 



OF THE 



OZAEK MOUNTAINS OF MISSOURI 
AND ARKANSAS, 

WHICH WERE FIRST TRAVERSED BY DE SOTO, IN 1541. 



BY HENRY ROWE SCHOOLCRAFT. 



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PHILADELPHIA: 

LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO 

1853. 




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Enteretl, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by 

HENRY ROWE SCHOOLCRAFT, 

in the Office of the Clerk of the District Court for the District of Columbia. 



(iv) 



'3, -I 



To the Memory 

OF 

DE WITT CLINTON, 

LATE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF KEW YORK, &C. AC. &C., 

AN EARLY FRIEND, DURING THE YEARS DEVOTED TO THESE EXCURSIONS 

INTO THE GREAT AREA OF THE WEST; — 

A MAN WHO WAS EMINENT IN VARIOUS WAIKS OF LIFE ; — 

WHO, BY HIS EXALTED FORECAST, WISE COUNSELS, AND STEADY POLICY, 

CONTRIBUTED TO THE HIGHEST BENEFITS AND RENOWN OF HIS 

NATIVE ST ATE;- 

THESE RECORDS OF INCIDENTS OF EXPLORATORY TRAVEL, 

ABE DEDICATED WITH THE SINCEREST SENTIMENTS OF RESPECT AND REGARD 

FOR HIS CHARACTER AND NAME, 

WHICH 1 EVER ENTERTAINED FOR HIM WHILE LIVING, ^ 

AND CONTINUE TO CHERISH NOW THAT HE IS DEAD. 

HENRY E. SCHOOLCRAFT. 



PEEFACE. 



These early adventures In the Ozarks corapreliend my first 
exploratory effort in the great area of the West. To traverse 
the plains and mountain elevations west of the Mississippi, 
"which had once echoed the tramp of the squadrons of De Soto 
— to range over hills, and through rugged defiles, which he had 
once searched in the hope of finding mines of gold and silver \ 

rivalling those of Mexico and Peru ; and this, too, coming as ' 

a climax to the panorama of a long, long journey from the 
East — constituted an attainment of youthful exultation and 
self-felicitation, which might have heen forgotten with its ter- 
mination. But the incidents are perceived to have had a value 
of a different kind. They supply the first attempt to trace the 
track of the Spanish cavaliers west of the Mississippi. The 
name of De Soto is inseparably connected with the territorial 
area of Missouri and Arkansas, which he was the first Euro- 
pean to penetrate, and in the latter of which he died. 

Four-and-thirty years have passed away, since the travels 
here brought to view, were terminated. They comprise a 
period of exciting and startling events in our history, social 
and political. With the occupancy of Oregon, the annexation 

(v) 



VI PREFACE. 

of Texas, the discoveries in California, and the acquisition of 
New Mexico, the very ends of the Union appear to have been 
turned about. And the lone scenes and adventures of a man 
on a then remote frontier, may be thought to have lost their 
interest. But they are believed to possess a more permanent 
character. It is the first and only attempt to identify De 
Soto's march west of the Mississippi ; and it recalls reminis- 
cences of scenes and observations which belong to the history 
of the discovery and settlement of the country. 

Little, it is conceived, need be said, to enable the reader to 
determine the author's position on the frontiers of Missouri 
and Arkansas in 1818. He had passed the summer and fall 
of that year in investigating the geological structure and mine- 
ral resources of the lead-mine district of Missouri. He had 
discovered the isolated primitive tract on the sources of the 
St. Francis and Grand rivers — the "Coligoa" of the Spanish 
adventurer — and he felt a strong impulse to explore the regions 
west of it, to determine the extent of this formation, and fix 
its geological relations between the primitive ranges of the 
Alleghany and Rocky mountains. 

Reports represented it as an alpine tract, abounding in pic- 
turesque valleys and caves, and replete Avith varied mineral 
resources, but difficult to penetrate on account of the hostile 
character of the Osage and Pawnee Indians. He recrossed 
the Mississippi to the American bottom of Illinois, to lay his 
plan before a friend and fellow-traveller in an earlier part of 
his explorations, Mr. Ebenezer Brigham, of Massachusetts, who 
agreed to unite in the enterprise. He then proceeded to St. 
Louis, where Mr. Pettibone, a Connecticut man, and a fellow- 
voyager on the Alleghany river, determined also to unite in 
this interior journey. The place of rendezvous was appointed 



PREFACE. VU 

at Potosi, about forty miles west of the Mississippi. Each 

one was to share in the preparations, and some experienced 

hunters and frontiersmen were to join in the expedition. But 

it turned out, when the day of starting arrived, that each one 

of the latter persons found some easy and good excuse for 

declining to go, principally on the ground that they were poor 

men, and could not leave supplies for their families during so 

» 
long a period of absence. Both the other gentlemen came 

promptly to the point, though one of them was compelled by 

sickness to return ; and my remaining companion and myself 

plunged into the wilderness with a gust of adventure and 

determination, which made amends for whatever else we 

lacked. 

It is only necessary to add, that the following journal 
narrates the incidents of the tour. The narrative is drawn 
up from the original manusciript journal in my possession. 
Outlines of parts of it, were inserted in the pages of the Belles- 
lettres Repository, by Mr. Van Winkle, soon after my return 
to New York, in 1819 ; from whence they were transferred by 
Sir Richard Phillips to his collection of Voyages and Travels, 
London, 1821. This latter work has never been republished 
in the United States. 

In preparing the present volume, after so considerable a lapse 
of time, it has been thought proper to omit all such topics as are 
not deemed of permanent or historical value. The scientific 
facts embraced in the appendix, on the mines and mineralogy 
of Missouri, are taken from my publication on these subjects. 
In making selections and revisions from a work which was at 
first hastily prepared, I have availed myself of the advantage 
of subsequent observation on the spot, as well as of the sugges- 
tions and critical remarks made by men of judgment and 
science. 



Vm PREFACE. 

A single further remark may be made : The term Ozark is 
applied to a broad, elevated district of highlands, running from 
north to south, centrally, through the States of Missouri and 
Arkansas. It has on its east the striking and deep alluvial 
tract of the Mississippi river, and, on its west, the woodless 
buffalo plains or deserts which stretch below the Rocky Moun- 
tains. The Osage Indians, who probably furnish origin for 
the term, have occupied all its most remarkable gorges and 
eminences, north of the Arkansas, from the earliest historical 
times; and this tribe, with the Pawnees ("Apana"), are sup- 
posed to have held this position ever since the days of De Soto. 

Washington, January 20, 1853. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction .»....-.. . .-. Page 13 

CHAPTER I. 

Junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi — Difficulty of Ascending 
the latter with a Barge — Its turbid and rapid Character — Inci- 
dents of the Voyage — Physical Impediments to its Navigation — 
Falling-in Banks — Tiawapati — Animals — Floating Trees — 
River at Night — Needless and laughable Alarm — Character of 
the Shores — Men give out — Reach the first fast Lands — Mineral 
Products — Cape Girardeau — Moccasin Spring — Non-poetic geo- 
graphical Names — Grand Tower — Struggle to pass Cape Garlic. 22 

CHAPTER II. 

Pass Cape Garlic — Obrazo River — ClifiFs — Emigrants — Cape St. 
Comb — Bois Brule Bottom — Paroquet — Fort Chartres — Kas- 
kaskia — St. Genevieve — M. Breton — The Mississippi deficient 
in Fish — Antiquities — Geology — Steamer — Herculaneum — 
M. Austin, Esq., the Pioneer to Texas — Journey on foot to St. 
Louis — Misadventures on the Mararaec — Its Indian Name — 
Carondelet — St. Louis, its fine Site and probable future Import- 
ance — St. Louis Mounds not artificial — Downward Pressure of 
the diluvial Drift of the Mississippi 32 

CHAPTER III. 

Resolve to proceed further West — Night Voyage on the Mississippi 
in a Skifi" — An Adventure — Proceed on foot West to the Mis- 
souri Mines — Incidents by the Way — Miners' Village of Shib- 
boleth — Compelled by a Storm to pass the Night at Old Mines — 
Reach Potosi — Favourable Reception by the mining Gentry — 
Pass several Months in examining the Mines — Organize an Ex- 
pedition to explore Westward — Its Composition — Discourage- 
ments on setting out — Proceed, notwithstanding — Incidents of 

the Journey to the Valley of Leaves 43 

(ix) 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IV 



Horses elope — Desertion of our Guide — Encamp on one of the 
Sources of Black River — Head-waters of the River Currents — 
Enter a romantic Sub-Valley — Saltpetre Caves — Description of 
Ashley's Cave — Encampment there — Enter an elevated Summit 

— Calamarca, an unknown Stream — encounter four Bears — 
North Fork of White River 54 

CHAPTER V. 

Descend the Valley — Its Difficulties — Horse rolls down a Precipice 

— Purity of the Water — Accident caused thereby — Elkhorn 
Spring — Tower Creek — Horse plunges over his depth in Ford- 
ing, and destroys whatever is deliquescent in his pack — Absence 
of Antiquities, or Evidences of ancient Habitation — a remarkable 
Cavern — Pinched for Food — Old Indian Lodges — The Beaver 

— A deserted Pioneer's Camp — Incident of the Pumpkin . . 65 

CHAPTER VI. 

Abandon our Camp and Horse in search of Settlements — Incidents 
of the first Day — Hear a Shot — Camp in an old Indian Lodge — 
Acorns for Supper — Kill a Woodpecker — Incidents of the second 
Pay — Sterile Ridges — AVant of AVater — Camp at Xight in a 
deep Gorge — Incidents of the third Day — Find a Horse-path, 
and pursue it — Discover a Man on Horseback — Reach a Hun- 
ter's Cabin — Incidents there — He conducts us back to our old 
Camp — Deserted there without Provisions — Deplorable State — 
Shifts — Taking of a Turkey , 74 

CHAPTER VII. 

Proceed West — Bog our Horse — Cross the Knife Hills — Reach 
the Unica, or White River — Abandon the Horse at a Hunter's, 
and proceed with Packs — Objects of Pity — Sugar-Loaf Prairie 

— Camp under a Cliff — Ford the Unica twice — Descend into a 
Cavern — Reach Beaver River, the highest Point of Occupancy 

by a Hunter Population 83 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Obstacle produced by the Fear of Osage Hostility — Means pursued 
to overcome it — Natural Monuments of Denudation in the Lime- 
stone Cliffs — Purity of the Water — Pebbles of Yellow Jasper — 
Complete the Hunters' Cabins — A Job in Jewellery — Construct 
a Blowpipe from Cane — What is thought of Religion 95 



CONTENTS. XI 

CHAPTER IX. 

Proceed into the Hunting-Country of the Osages — Diluvial Hills 
and Plains — Bald Hill — Swan Creek — Osage Encampments 

— Form of the Osage Lodge — The Habits of the Beaver — Dis- 
cover a remarkable Cavern in the Limestone Rock, having na- 
tural Vases of pure Water — Its geological and metalliferous 
Character — Reach the Summit of the Ozark Range, which is 
found to display a broad Region of fertile Soil, overlying a 
mineral Deposit 101 

CHAPTER X. 

Depart from the Cave — Character of the Hunters who guided the 
Author — Incidents of the Route — A beautiful and fertile Coun- 
try, abounding in Game — Reach the extreme north-western 
Source of White River — Discoveries of Lead-ore in a Part of its 
Bed — Encamp, and investigate its Mineralogy — Character, Va- 
lue, and History of the Country — Probability of its having been , 
traversed by De Soto in 1541 109 

CHAPTER XI. 

Severe winter Weather on the Summit of the Ozarks — False Alarm 
of Indians — Danger of my Furnace, etc., being hereafter taken 
for Antiquities — Proceed South — Animal Tracks in the Snow — 
Winoca or Spirit Valley — Honey and the Honey-Bee — Buffalo- 
Bull Creek — Robe of Snow — 3Iehausca Valley — Superstitious 
Experiment of the Hunters — Arrive at Beaver Creek 115 

CHAPTER XII. 

Descend White River in a Canoe — Its pure Water, Character, and 
Scenery — Places of Stopping — Bear Creek — Sugar-Loaf Prairie 

— Big Creek — A River Pedlar — Pot Shoals — Mouth of Little 
North Fork — Descend formidable Rapids, called the Bull Shoals 

— Stranded on Rocks — A Patriarch Pioneer — Mineralogy — 
Antique Pottery and Bones — Some Trace of De Soto — A Trip 

by Land — Reach the Mouth of the Great North Fork 120 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Detention at the Mouth of the Great North Fork — Natural His- 
tory of the Vicinity — Great Blocks of Quartz — Imposing Preci- 
pices of the Calico Rock — A Characteristic of American Scenery 

— Cherokee Occupancy of the Country between the Wliite and 
Arkansas Rivers — Its Effects on the Pioneers — Question of the 
Fate of the Indian Races — Iron-ore — Descent to the Arkansas 
Ferries — Leave the River at this Point — Remarks on its Char- 
acter and Productions 128 



XU CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Ancient Spot of De Soto's crossing White River in 1542 — Lameness 
produced by a former Injury — Incidents of the Journey to the St. 
Francis River — De Soto's ancient Marches and Adventures on 
this River in the search after Gold — Fossil Salt — Copper — The 
ancient Ranges of the Buffalo 134 

CHAPTER XV. 

Proceed North — Incidents of the Route — A severe Tempest of 
Rain, which swells the Stream — Change in the Geology of the 
Country — The ancient Coligoa of De Soto — A primitive and 
mineral Region — St. Michael — Mine a La Motte — Wade through 
Wolf Creek — A Deserted House — Cross Grand River — Return 
to Potosi 142 

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE WEST. 

Two Letters, addressed to the Hon. J. B. Thomas, U. S. Senate, 
Washington 146 



APPENDIX. 

MINERALOGY, GEOLOGY, AND MINES. 

1. A View of the Lead-Mines of Missouri 153 

2. A patalogue of the Minerals of the Mississippi Valley 198 

3. Mineral Resources of the Western Country. A Letter to Gen. 

C. G. Haines 215 

GEOGRAPHY. 

1. Missouri 222 

2. Hot Springs of Washita 231 

3. Memoir of White River 233 

4. List of Steamboats on the Mississippi River in 1819 239 

ANTIQUITIES AND INDIAN HISTORY. 

1. Articles of curious Workmanship found in ancient Indian Graves 241 

2. Ancient Indian Cemetery found In the Maramec Valley 243 



INTRODUCTION. 



De Soto, in 1541, was the true discoverer of the Missis- 
sippi river, and the first person who crossed it, who has left a 
narrative of that fact ; although it is evident that Cabaca de 
Vaca, the noted survivor of the ill-fated expedition of Narvaez 
in 1528, must, in his extraordinary pilgrimage between Florida 
and the eastern coasts of the gulf of California, have crossed 
this river, perhaps before him ; but he has not distinctly men- 
tioned it in his memoir. Narvaez himself was not the disco- 
verer of the mouth of the Mississippi, as some persons have 
conjectured, inasmuch as he was blown off the coast and lost, 
east of that point. The most careful tracing of the narrative 
of his voyage in boats along the Florida shore, as given by De 
Vaca, does not carry him beyond Mobile bay, or, at farthest, 
Perdido bay.* 

De Soto's death frustrated his plan of founding a colony 
of Spain in the Mississippi valley ; and that stream was al- 
lowed to roll its vast volume into the gulf a hundred and thirty- 
two years longer, before it attracted practical notice. Pre- 
cisely at the end of this time, namely, in 1673, Mons. Jolliet, 
accompanied by James Marquette, the celebrated enterprising 
missionary of New France, entered the stream at the conflu- 
ence of the Wisconsin, in accordance with the policy, and a 
plan of exploration, of the able, brave, and efficient governor- 
general of Canada, the Count Frontenac. Marquette and his 
companion, who was the chief of the expedition, but whose 

* Vide Narr. of Cabaca de Vaca, Smith's Tr., 1851. 
2 (13) 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

name has become secondary to his ovm, descended it to the 
mouth of the Arkansas, the identical spot of De Soto's demise. 
La Salle, some five or six years later, continued the discovery 
to the gulf: and Hennepin extended it upward, from the point 
where Marquette had entered it, to the falls of St. Anthony, 
and the river St. Francis. And it is from this era of La 
Salle, the narrators of whose enlarged plans, civic and eccle- 
siastical, recognised the Indian geographical terminology, that 
it has retained its Algonquin name of Mississippi. 

It is by no means intended to follow these initial facts by 
recitals of the progress of the subsequent local discoveries in 
the Mississippi valley, which were made respectively under 
French, British, and American rule. Sufficient is it, for the 
present purpose, to say, that the thread of the discovery of the 
Mississippi, north and west of the points named, was not taken 
up effectively, till the acquisition of Louisiana. Mr. Jefferson 
determined to explore the newly acquired territories, and 
directed the several expeditions of discovery under Lewis and 
Clark, and Lieut. Z. M. Pike. The former traced out the 
Missouri to its sources, and followed the Columbia to the 
Pacific ; while the latter continued the discovery of the Mis- 
sissippi river above St. Anthony's falls, where Hennepin, and 
perhaps Carver, had respectively left it. The map which Pike 
published in 1810 contained, however, an error of a capital 
geographical point, in regard to the actual source of the Mis- 
sissippi. He placed it in Turtle lake, at the source of Tui'tle 
river of upper Lac Cedre Rouge, or Cass lake, which lies in 
the portage to Red lake of the great Red River of the North, 
being in the ordinary route of the fur trade to that region. 

In 1820, Mr. Calhoun, who determined to erect a cordon 
of military posts to cover the remotest of the western settle- 
ments, at the same time that he despatched Major Long to 
ascend to the Yellowstone of the Missouri, directed the ex- 
treme upper Mississippi to be examined and traced out to its 
source. This expedition, led by Gov. Cass, through the upper 
lakes, reached the mouth of Turtle river of the large lake 
beyond the upper cataract of the Mississippi, which has since 
borne the name of the intrepid leader of the party. It was 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

satisfactorily determined that Turtle lake was not the source, 
nor even one of the main sources, of the Mississippi ; but that 
this river was discharged, in the integrity of its volume, into 
the western end of Cass lake. To determine this point more 
positively, and trace the river to its source, another expedition 
was organized by the Department of War in 1832, and com- 
mitted to me. Taking up the line of discovery where it had 
been left in 1820, the river was ascended up a series of rapids 
about forty miles north, to a large lake called the Amigegoma ; 
a few miles above which, it is constituted by two forks, having 
a southern and western origin, the largest and longest of which 
was found* to originate in Itasca lake, in north latitude 37° 
13' — a position not far north of Ottertail lake, in the high- 
lands of Hauteur des Terres. 

So far as the fact of De Soto's exploration of the country 
west of the Mississippi, in the present area of Missouri and 
Arkansas, is concerned, it is apprehended that the author of 
these incidents of travel has been the first person to identify 
and explore this hitherto confused part of the celebrated 
Spanish explorer's route. This has been traced from the nar- 
rative, with the aid of the Indian lexicography, in the third 
volume of his Indian History (p. 50), just published, accompa- 
nied by a map of the entire route, from his first landing on the 
western head of Tampa bay. Prior to the recital of these 
personal incidents, it may serve a useful purpose to recall the 
state of geographical information at this period. 

The enlarged and improved map of the British colonies, with 
the geographical and historical analysis, accompanying it, of 
Lewis Evans, which was published by B. Franklin in 1754, 
had a controlling effect on all geographers and statesmen of 
the day, and was an important element in diffusing a correct 
geographical knowledge of the colonies at large, and particu- 
larly of the great valley of the Mississippi, agreeably to modern 
ideas of its physical extent. It was a great work for the time, 
and for many years remained the standard of reference. In 
some of its features, it was never excelled. Mr. Jefferson 

* 291 years after De Soto's discovery, and 159 after Marquette's. 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

quotes it, in his Notes on Virginia, and draws from it some 
interesting opinions concerning Indian history, as in the allu- 
sion to the locality and place of final refuge of the Eries. It 
was from the period of the publication of this memoir that the' 
plan of an " Ohio colony," in which Dr. Franklin had an active 
agency, appears to have had its origin. 

Lewis Evans was not only an eminent geographer himself, 
but his map and memoir, as will appear on reference to them, 
embrace the discoveries of his predecessors and contemporary 
explorers, as Conrad Wiser and others, in the West. The 
adventurous military reconnoissance of Washington to fort Le 
Boeuf, on lake Erie, was subsequent to this publication. 

Evans's map and analysis, being the best extant, served as 
the basis of the published materials used for the topographical 
guidance of General Braddock on his march over the Alle- 
ghany mountains. Washington, himself an eminent geogra- 
pher, was present in that memorable march ; and" so judicious 
and well selected were its movements, through defiles and over 
eminences, found to be, that the best results of engineering 
skill, when the commissioners came to lay out the great Cum- 
berland road, could not mend them. Such continued also to 
be the basis of our general geographical knowledge of the 
West, at the period of the final capture of fort Du Quesne by 
General Forbes, and the change of its name in compliment to 
the eminent British statesman, Pitt. 

The massacre of the British garrison of Michilimackinac in 
1763, the investment of the fort of Detroit in the same year by 
a combined force of Indian tribes, and the development of an 
extensive conspiracy, as it has been termed, against the western 
British posts under Pontiac, constituted a new feature in Ameri- 
can history ; and the military expeditions of Cols. Bouquet and 
Bradstreet, towards the West and North-west, were the conse- 
(^uence. These movements became the means of a more perfect 
geographical knowledge respecting the West than had before 
prevailed. Hutchinson's astronomical observations, which were 
made under the auspices of Bouquet, fixed accurately many 
important points in the Mississippi valley, and furnished a 
framework for the military narrative of the expedition. In 



INTRODUCTION. 17 

fact, the triumphant march of Bouquet into the very strong- 
holds of the Indians west of the Ohio, first brought them 
effectually to terms ; and this expedition had the effect to open 
the region to private enterprise. 

The defeat of the Indians by Major Gladwyn at Detroit had 
tended to the same end ; and the more formal march of Colonel 
Bradstreet, in 1764, still further contributed to show the abo- 
rigines the impossibility of their recovering the rule in the 
West. Both these expeditions, at distant points, had a very 
decided tendency to enlarge the boundaries of geographical 
discovery in the West, and to stimulate commercial enterprise. 

The Indian trade had been carried to fort Pitt the very year 
of its capture by the English forces ; and it may serve to give 
an idea of the commercial daring and enterprise of the colo- 
nists to add, that, so early as 1766, only two years after Bou- 
quet's expedition, the leading house of Baynton, Wharton & 
Morgan, of Philadelphia, had carried that branch of trade 
through the immense lines of forest and river wilderness to 
fort Chartres, the military capital of the Illinois, on the Mis- 
sissippi.* Its fertile lands were even then an object of scarcely 
less avidity. f Mr. Alexander Henry had, even a year or two 
earlier, carried this trade to Michilimackinac ; and the English 
flag, the symbol of authority with the tribes, soon began to 
succeed that of France, far and wide. The Indians, finding 
the French flag had really been struck finally, submitted, and 
the trade soon fell, in every quarter, into English hands. 

The American revolution, beginning within ten years of this 
time, was chiefly confined to the regions east of the Allegha- 
nies. The war for territory west of this line was principally 
carried on by Virginia, whose royal governors had more than 
once marched to maintain her chartered rights on the Ohio. 
Her blood had often freely flowed on this border, and, while 
the great and vital contest still raged in the Atlantic colonies, 
she ceased not with a high hand to defend it, attacked as it 
was by the fiercest and most deadly onsets of the Indians. 

* MS. Journal of Matthew Clarkson, in the possession of Wm. Duane, 
Esq., Philadelphia, 
tibid. 

2* B 



18 INTRODUCTION. 

In 1780, General George Rogers Clark, the commander 
of the Virginia forces, visited the vicinity of the mouth of the 
Ohio, by order of the governor of A'irginia, for the purpose 
of selecting the site for a fort, which resulted in the erection 
of fort Jefiferson, some few miles (I think) below the influx of 
the Ohio, on the eastern bank of the Mississippi. The United 
States were then in the fifth year of the war of independence. 
All its energies were taxed to the utmost extent in this con- 
test ; and not the least of its cares arose from the Indian tribes 
who hovered with deadly hostility on its western borders. It 
fell to the lot of Clark, who was a man of the greatest energy 
of character, chivalric courage, and sound judgment, to capture 
the posts of Kaskaskia and Vincennes, in the IlHnois, with 
inadequate forces at his command, and through a series of 
almost superhuman toils. And we are indebted to these con- 
quests for the enlarged western boundary inserted in the defi- 
nitive treaty of peace, signed at Paris in 1783. Dr. Franklin, 
who was the ablest geographer among the commissioners, made 
a triumphant use of these conquests ; and we are thus indebted 
to George Rogers Clark for the acquisition of the Mississippi 
valley. 

American enterprise in exploring the country may be said 
to date from the time of the building of fort Jefferson ; but it 
was not till the close of the revolutionary war, in 1783, that 
the West became the favorite theatre of action of a class of 
bold, energetic, and patriotic men, whose biographies would 
form a very interesting addition to our literature. It is to be 
hoped that such a work may be undertaken and completed 
before the materials for it, are beyond our reach. How nume- 
rous this class of men were, and how quickly they were followed 
by a hardy and enterprising population, who pressed Avestward 
from the Atlantic borders, may be inferred from the fact that 
the first State formed west of the Ohio river, required but 
twenty years from the treaty of peace for its complete organi- 
zation. Local histories and cyclical memoirs have been pub- 
lished in some parts of the West, which, though scarcely known 
beyond the precincts of their origin, possess their chief value 
as affording a species of historical material for this investigation. 



INTRODUCTION. 19 

Pioneer life in the West must, indeed, hereafter constitute a 
prolific source of American reminiscence ; but it may be 
doubted whether any comprehensive work on the subject will 
be effectively undertaken, while any of this noble band of 
public benefactors are yet on the stage of life. 

The acquisition of Louisiana, in 1803, became the period 
from which may be dated the first efibrts of the United States' 
government to explore the public domain. The great extent 
of the territory purchased from France, stretching west to the 
Pacific ocean — its unknown boundaries on the south, west, and 
north — and the importance and variety of its reputed resources, 
furnished the subjects which led the Executive, Mr. Jeffer- 
son, to direct its early exploration. The expeditions named 
of Lewis and Clark to Oregon, and of Pike to the sources of 
the Mississippi, were the consequence. Pike did not publish 
the results of his search till 1810. O^ving to the death of 
Governor Meriwether Lewis, a still greater delay attended the 
publication of the details of the former expedition, which did 
not appear till 1814. No books had been before published, 
which diffused so much local geographical knowledge. The 
United States were then engaged in the second war with Great 
Britain, during which the hostility of the western tribes pre- 
cluded explorations, except such as could be made under arms. 
The treaty of Ghent brought the belligerent parties to terms ; 
but the intelligence did not reach the country in season to 
prevent the battle of New Orleans, which occurred in January 
1815. 

Letters from correspondents in the West, which were often 
published by the diurnal press, and the lectures of Mr. W. 
Darby on western and general geography, together with verbal 
accounts and local publications, now poured a flood of informa- 
tion respecting the fertility and resources of that region, and 
produced an extensive current of emigration. Thousands were 
congregated at single points, waiting to embark on its waters. 
The successful termination of the war had taken away all fear 
of Indian hostility. The tribes had suffered a total defeat at 
all points, their great leader Tecumseh had fallen, and there 
was no longer a basis for any new combinations to oppose the 



20 INTRODUCTION. 

advances of civilization. Military posts were erected to cove? 
the vast line of frontiers on the west and north, and thus fully 
to occupy the lines originally secured by the treaty of 1783. 
In 1816, Mr. J. J. Astor, having purchased the North-wesi 
Company's posts, lying south of latitude 49°, established the 
central point of his trade at Michilimackinac. A military post 
was erected by the government at the falls of St. Anthony, 
and another at Council Bluffs on the Missouri. The know- 
ledge of the geography and resources of the western country 
was thus practically extended, although no publication, so far 
as I am aware, was made on this subject. 

In the fall of 1816, I determined to visit the Mississippi 
valley — a resolution which brought me into the situations 
narrated in the succeeding volume. In the three ensuing 
years I visited a large part of the West, and explored a con- 
siderable portion of Missouri and Arkansas, in which De Soto 
alone, I believe, had, in 1542, preceded me. My first publica- 
tion on the results of these explorations was made at New 
York, in 1819. De Witt Clinton was then oji the stage of 
action, and Mr. Calhoun, with his grasping intellect, directed 
the energies of the government in exploring the western do- 
main, which, he foresaw, as he told me, must exercise a con- 
trolling influence on the destinies of America. 

In the spring of 1818, Major S. II. Long, U. S. A., was 
selected by the War OflSce to explore the Missouri as high as 
the Yellowstone, and, accompanied by a corps of naturalists 
from Philadelphia, set out from Pittsburgh in a small steamer. 
The results of this expedition were in the highest degree 
auspicious to our knowledge of the actual topography and 
natural history of the far West, and mark a period in their 
progress. It was about this time that Colonel H. Leavenworth 
was directed to ascend the Mississippi, and establish a garrison 
at the mouth of the St. Peter's or Minnesota river. Early in 
1820, the War Department directed an exploratory expedition 
to be organized at Detroit, under the direction of Lewis Cass, 
Esq., Governor of Michigan Territory, for the purpose of 
surveying the upper lakes, and determining the area at the 
sources of the Mississippi — its physical character, topography, 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

and Indian population. In the scientific corps of tins expedi- 
tion, I received from the Secretary of War the situation of 
mineralogist and geologist, and published a narrative of it. 
This species of public employment was repeated in 1821, 
during which I explored the Miami of the Lakes, and the 
Wabash and Illinois ; and my position assumed a permanent 
form, in another department of the service, in 1822, when I 
took up my residence in the great area of the upper lakes. 

It is unnecessary to the purposes of this sketch to pursue 
these details further than to say, that the position I occupied 
was favorable to the investigation of the mineral constitution 
and natural history of the country, and also of the history, 
antiquities, and languages and customs, of the Indian tribes. 
For a series of years, the name of the author has been con- 
nected with the progress of discovery and research on these 
subjects. Events controlled him in the publication of separate 
volumes of travels, some of which were, confessedly, incom- 
plete in their character, and hasty in their preparation. 
Had he never trespassed on public attention in this manner, 
he would not venture, with his present years, and more ma- 
tured conceptions of a species of labor, where the difficulties 
are very great, the chances of applause doubtful, and the 
rewards, under the most favorable auspices, very slender. As 
it is, there is a natural desire that what has been done, and 
may be quoted when he has left this feverish scene and gone 
to his account, should be put in the least exceptionable form. 
Hence the revision of these travels. 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



CHAPTER I. 

JUNCTION OF THE OHIO WITH THE MISSISSIPPI — DIFFICULTY OF 
ASCENDING THE LATTER WITH A BARGE — ITS TURBID AND 
RAPID CHARACTER — INCIDENTS OP THE VOYAGE — PHYSICAL 
IMPEDIMENTS TO ITS NAVIGATION — FALLING-IN BANKS — TIA- 
WAPATI — ANIMALS — FLOATING TREES" — RIVER AT NIGHT — > 
NEEDLESS AND LAUGHABLE ALARM — CHARACTER OP THE SHORES 
— MEN GIVE OUT — REACH THE FIRST FAST LANDS — MINERAL 

PRODUCTS CAPE GIRARDEAU — MOCCASIN SPRING — NON-POETIC 

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES — GRAND TOWER — STRUGGLE TO PASS 
CAPE GARLIC. 

I REACHED the junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi on 
the last day of June, 1818, with feelings somewhat akin to 
those of one who performs a pilgrimage ; — for that Algonquin 
name of Mississippi had heen floating through my mind ever 
since boyhood, as if it had been invested with a talismanic 
power. 

The reading of books of geography, however, makes but a 
feeble impression on the mind, compared to the actual objects. 
Born on one of the tributaries of the Hudson — a stream whose 
whole length, from the junction of the Mohawk, is less than 
two hundred miles — I had never figured to myself rivers of 
such magnificent length and velocity. I had now followed 
down the Ohio, in all its windings, one thousand miles ; it was 
not only the longest, but the most beautiful river which I had 

(22) 



DESCENT OF THE OHIO 23 

ever seen ; and I felt something like regret to find it at last 
swallowed up, as it were, by the turbid and repulsive Missis- 
sippi. The latter was at its summer flood, and rushed by like 
a torrent, which seemed to be overcharged with the broken- 
down materials of half a continent. 

De Soto had been the first European to gaze upon this heady 
mass of waters, urging downward everything that comes within 
their influence, and threatening to carry even their own banks 
into the gulf. We came, in a large, heavily-manned barge, to 
the very point of the influx of the Ohio, where Cairo is now 
located. It was early in the afternoon ; but the captain of our 
craft, who was a stout-hearted fellow, of decision of character 
and a full-toned voice, deemed it best to come-to here, and wait 
till morning to grapple Avith the Mississippi. There were some 
old arks on the point, which had been landed in high water, 
and were now used as houses ; but I retained my berth in the 
barge, and, after looking around the vicinity, amused myself 
by angling from the sides of the vessel. The only fish I caught 
was a gar — that almost single variety of the voracious species 
in these waters, which has a long bill, with sharp teeth, for 
arousing its prey, apparently, from a muddy bottom. The 
junction of two such streams as the Ohio and Mississippi, 
exhibits a remarkable struggle. For miles, along the eastern 
shores of the Mississippi, the clear blue waters of the Ohio are 
crowded to the banks ; while the furious current of the former, 
like some monster, finally gulps it down, though the mastery 
is not obtained, I am told, till near the Chickasaw blufis. 

Early in the morning (1st July), the voice of the captain 
was heard, and the men paraded the sides of the deck, with 
their long poles shod with iron ; and we were soon in the gurg- 
ling, muddy channel, struggling along its eastern shore. The 
men plied their poles with the skill of veterans, planting them 
as near the margin of the channel as possible, and placing the 
head of the pole against the shoulder, while they kept their 
footing by means of slats nailed across the footway. With 
every exertion, we made but five miles the first day. This 
slowness of ascent was, however, very favorable to observation. 
I was the only passenger on board, except two adventurers 



21 ASCENDING THE MISSISSIPPI. 

from the Youghioghany, in Western Pennsylvania, wlio had 
freighted the barge, and were in the position of supercargoes. 
Such tugging and toiling I had never before seen. It seemed 
to me that no set of men could long stand it. The current 
ran as if it were charged with power to sweep everything down 
its course. Its banks were not proof against this impetuosity, 
and frequently fell in, with a noise ' and power which threat- 
ened to overwhelm us. This danger was often increased by 
the floating trees, which had fallen into the stream at higher 
points. And when, after a severe day's toil, the captain 
ordered the boat to be moored for the night, we felt an insecu- 
rity from the fear that the bank itself might prove treacherous 
before morning. 

Nothing in the structure of the country appeared to present 
a very fixed character. The banks of the river were elevated 
from ten to fifteen feet above the water, and consisted of a 
dark alluvium, bearing a dense forest. When they became 
too precipitous, which was an indication that the water at these 
points was too deep for the men to reach bottom with their 
poles, they took their oars, and crossed to the other bank. 
When night came on, in these damp alluvions, and darkness 
was added to our danger, the scene was indeed gloomy. I 
remember, this evening, we tried most perseveringly to drink 
our tea by a feeble light, which appeared to be a signal for the 
collection of insects far and near, who, by their numbers and 
the fierceness of their attacks, made it impossible to bring our 
cups to our mouths without stopping to brush away the fierce 
and greedy hordes of musquitoes. Amongst the growth, cane 
and cotton-wood were most conspicuous. 

I had a specimen of boatman manners to-day, which should 
not certainly be a subject of surprise, considering the rough- 
and-ready life and character of that class. Having laid down 
on the top deck of the barge a mineralogical specimen to which 
I attached value, and gone temporarily away, I found, on my 
return, that it had been knocked to pieces by one of the men, 
who acted, probably, like the boy who broke the fiddle, " to 
get the music out" of it. On expressing my disapproval of 
this, to one who evidently had not the most distant idea of the 



TEDIOUS PROGRESS. 25 

scientific value of " a stone," he made some trite remark, that 
"there was more where this came from," and then, stretching 
himself up at his full length of six feet, with sinews which had 
plainly become tense and hard from the use of the setting-pole, 
he exclaimed, "Help yourself!" 

July 2d. The toils of this day were similar to those of the 
last. It was a perpetual struggle to overcome the force of the 
current by poles placed in the bed, and, when that became too 
deep, we sought for shallower shores. We encountered the 
same growth of trees along the banks. The land became some- 
what more elevated. The insects were in such hordes, that it 
was amazing. We proceeded but about six miles to-day, and 
they were miles of incessant toil. 

July 3d. To the ordinary dangers and efforts of this day, 
were added the frequent occurrence of snags and sawyers, or 
planters — terms which denote some of the peculiar impediments 
of Mississippi navigation. The captain of our craft, who was 
a courageous and vigilant man, was continually on the look-out 
to avoid these dangers, and put-to, at night, at the foot of a 
large cane-covered island, by which he avoided, in some mea- 
sure, the sweep of the current, but was yet in jeopardy from 
falling-in banks. He requested me, in this exigency, to take 
a pole, and, from the bow, sound for bottom, as we crossed the 
river, to avoid shoals. This I did successfully. We estimated 
our ascent this day at seven miles. 

July 4th. The perils and toils of the crew did not prevent 
their remembrance of the national anniversary ; and the cap- 
tain acknowledged their appeal in the morning by an extra 
measure of " old Monongahela." We then set forward against 
the wild, raging current. From the appearance of the wild 
turkey and large grey squirrel ashore, it is probable that we 
are passing out of the inundated region. In other respects, 
the face of the country and its productions appear the same. 
After ascending about six miles, when the time approached for 
looking' out for a place to moor for the night, a storm of wind 
3 



26 ASCENDING THE MISSISSIPPI. 

suddenly arose, which dashed the water into the barge. "We 
put ashore in haste, at a precipitous bank of an island, which 
fell in during the night very near to us, and put us in moment- 
ary peril. To leave our position in the dark, would be to take 
the risk of running afoul of snags, or encountering floating 
trees ; but as early as the light appeared on the morning of 
the 5th, we left the spot immediately, crossing to the western 
bank. By diligence we made eight miles this day, which 
brought us to the first settlement at Tiawapeta bottom, on the 
Missouri shore. This is the first land that appears sufficiently 
elevated for cultivation. The settlement consists of six or 
eight farms, where corn, flax, hemp, potatoes, and tobacco, are 
abundantly raised. The peach and apple-tree also thrive. I 
observed the papaw and persimmon among the wild fruits. 

July 6th. The downward movement of the water, and its 
gurgling and rush as it meets with obstacles, is very audible 
after the barge has been fastened to the shore for the night, 
when its fearful impetuosity, surcharged as it is with floating 
wrecks of forest life, is impressive to the listener, while night 
has thrown her dark pall over the scene. 

Early in the morning, the oarsmen and polemen were at 
their masculine toils. I had feared that such intense applica- 
tion of muscle, in pushing forward the boat, would exhaust 
their strength ; and we had not gone over three miles this day, 
when we were obliged to lay-by for the want of more compe- 
tent hands. The complaining men were promptly paid, and 
furnished with provisions to return. While detained by this 
circumstance, we were passed by a boat of similar construction 
to our own, laden with planks from Olean, on the sources of 
the Alleghany river, in New York. This article had been 
transported already more than thirteen hundred miles, on its 
way to a market at St. Louis, where it was estimated to be 
worth sixty dollars per thousand feet. 

While moored along this coast, the day after we had thus 
escaped from the treacherous island, we seemed to have taken 
shelter along a shore infested by wild beasts. " Grizzly bear !" 
was the cry at night. We were all alarmed by a snorting and 



LUDICROUS ALARM. 27 

disturbance at the water's edge, a short distance below us, 
which, it was soon evident, proceeded from a large, light- 
colored, and furious animal. So far, all agreed. One of our 
Pennsylvanians, who had a choice rifle, prepared himself for 
the attack. The captain, who had no lack of resolution, and 
would, at any rate, have become bold by battling the Missis- 
sippi river for six or seven days, had some missiles ; and all 
prepared to be useful on the occasion. As I carried nothing 
more deadly than a silver crucible and some acids, I remained 
on the upper deck of the barge. From this elevation I soon 
saw, by the dim moonlight, the whole party return, without 
having fired a gun. It turned out that the cause of this un- 
usual disturbance was a large white hog, which had been shot 
in the head and snout with swan-shot, by some cruel fellows, 
the preceding day, and came at night to mitigate its burning 
and festering wounds by bathing in the river. 

July 7th. Having procured some additional hands, our 
invincible captain pressed stoutly forward, and, at an early 
hour, we reached the head of Tiawapeta bottom, where a short 
stop was made. At this point, the bed of the Mississippi ap- 
pears to be crossed by a chain of rocks, which oppose, however, 
no obstruction to its navigation. Such masses of it as appear 
on shore, are silico-carbonates of lime, and seem to belong to 
the metalliferous system of Missouri. About half a mile above 
the commencement of this chain, I observed, at the foot of an 
elevation near the water's edge, a remarkable stratum of white 
aluminous earth, of a rather dry and friable character, resem- 
bling chalk, and which, I afterwards observed, was extensively 
used by mechanics in Missouri as a substitute for that article. 
Masses, and in some instances nodules, of hornstone, resem- 
bling true flint, are found imbedded in it ; yet it is not to be 
confounded with the chalk formation. It yields no effervjescence 
with nitric, and is wholly destitute of carbonic, acid. Portions 
of the stratum are colored deeply by the red oxide of iron. 
Scattered along the shores of the river at this place, I observed 
large, angular masses of pudding-stone, consisting chiefly of 
silicious pebbles and sand, cemented by oxide of iron. 



28 ASCENDING THE MISSISSIPPI. 

I now began to breathe more freely. For seven days we 
had been passing through such a nascent region, down which 
the Mississippi swept at so furious a rate, that I never felt 
sure, at night, that I should behold another day. Had the 
barge, any day, lost her heading and got athwart the stream, 
nothing could have prevented the water from rushing over her 
gunwales, and sweeping her to destruction. And the Avhole 
district of the alluvial banks was subject to be momentarily 
undermined, and frequently tumbled in, with the noise and 
fury of an avalanche, threatening destruction to whatever was 
in the vicinity. 

Owing to the increased firmness of the shore, and the rein- 
forcement of hands, we ascended this day ten miles. We 
began to feel in better spirits. 

July 8th. The calcareous and elevated formation of rocks, 
covered Avith geological drift, continued constantly along the 
Missouri shore ; for it was this shore, and not the Illinois side, 
that we generally hugged. This drift, on ascending the eleva- 
tions, consisted of a hard and reddish loam, or marly clay, 
filled with pebble-stones of various kinds, and fragments and 
chips of hornstone, chert, common jasper, argillaceous oxide 
of iron, radiated quartz, and quartz materials, betokening the 
disruption, in ancient eras, of prior formations. The trees 
observed on the diluvial elevations were oaks, sassafras, and, 
on the best lands, walnut, but of sparse growth ; with a dense 
forest of cotton-wood, sycamore, and elm, on the alluvions. On 
ascending the river five miles, we came to the toAvn of Cape 
Girardeau, consisting of about fifty wooden buildings of all 
sorts, with a post-office and two stores. We were now at the 
computed distance of fifty miles above the influx of the Ohio. 
We went no farther that day. This gave me an opportunity 
to explore the vicinity. 

I had not yet put my foot ashore, when a fellow-passenger 
brought me a message from one of the principal merchants of 
the place, desiring me to call at his store, and aid him in the 
examination of some drugs and medicines which he had newly 
received. On reaching his store, I was politely ushered into 



CAPE GIRARDEAU. 29 

a back room, where some refreshments were handsomely set 
out. The whole thing was, in fact, designed as a friendly wel- 
come to a professional man, who came neither to sell nor buy, 
but simply to inquire into the resources and natural history of 
the country. At this trait of hospitality and appreciation in 
a stranger, I took courage, and began to perceive that the 
West might be relied on. 

I found the town of Cape Girardeau situated on an eleva- 
tion of rich, red, marly soil, highly charged with oxide of iron, 
which is characteristic of the best arable soils of the mine 
country. This soil appears to be very readily dissolved in 
water, and carried off rapidly by rains, Avhich furnishes a solu- 
tion to the deep gulfs and gorges that disfigure many parts of 
the cultivated high grounds. If such places were sown with 
the seeds of grass, it would give fixity to the soil, and add 
much to the beauty of the landscape. 

July 9th. We resumed our journey up the rapid stream 
betimes, but, with every exertion, ascended only seven miles. 
The river, in this distance, preserves its general character ; the 
Missouri shores being rocky and elevated, while the vast allu- 
vial tracts of the Illinois banks spread out in densely wooded 
bottoms. But, while the Missouri shores create the idea of 
greater security by their fixity, and freedom from treacherous 
alluvions, this very fixity of rocky banks creates jets of strong 
currents, setting around points, which require the greatest 
exertions of the bargemen to overcome. To aid them in these 
exigencies, the cordelle is employed. This consists of a stout 
rope fastened to a block in the bow of the barge, which is then 
passed over the shoulders of the men, who each at the same 
time grasp it, and lean hard forward. 

July 10th. To me, the tardiness of our ascent, after reach- 
ing the rock formations, was extremely favorable, as it facili- 
tated my examinations. Every day the mineralogy of the 
western banks became more interesting, and I was enabled 
daily to add something to my collection. This day, I picked 
up a large fragment of the pseudo pumice which is brought 
3* 



80 ASCENDING THE MISSISSIPPI. 

down the Missouri by its summer freshets. This mineral 
appears to have been completely melted ; and its superficies is 
so much enlarged by vesicles filled with air, and its specific 
gravity thereby so much reduced, as to permit it to float in 
water. We encamped this evening, after an ascent of seven 
miles, at a spot called the Moccasin Spring, which is contained 
in a crevice in a depressed part of the limestone formation. 

July 11th. This day was signalized by our being passed by 
a small steamer of forty tons burden, called the Harriet, laden 
with merchandise for St. Louis. Viewed from our stand-point, 
she seemed often nearly stationary, and sometimes receded, in 
her efforts to stem the fierce current ; but she finally ascended, 
slowly and with labor. The pressure of the stream, before 
mentioned, against the rocky barrier of the western banks, 
was found, to-day, to be very strong. With much ado, with 
poles and cordelle, we made but five miles. 

July 12th. We passed the mouth of Great Muddy river, 
on the Illinois shore, this morning. This stream, it is said, 
affords valuable beds of coal. The name of the river does not 
appear to be very poetic, nor very characteristic, in a region 
where every tributary stream is muddy ; the Mississippi itself 
being muddy above all others. But, thanks to the Indians, 
they have not embodied that idea in the name of the Father 
of rivers ; its greatness, with them, being justly deemed by 
far its most characteristic trait. 

About two miles above this locality, we came to one of the 
geological wonders of the Mississippi, called the Grand Tower. 
It is a pile of limestone rocks, rising precipitously from the 
bed of the river in a circular form, resembling a massive castle. 
The height of this geological monument may be about one 
hundred feet. It is capped by some straggling cedars, which 
have caught a footing in the crevices. It might, with as much 
propriety as one of the Alps, be called the Jungfrau (Virgin) ; 
for it seems impossible that any human being should ever have 
ascended it. The main channel of the river passes east of it. 
There is a narrower channel on the west, which is apparently 



CAPE GARLIC. 31 

more dangerous. We crossed the river below this isolated 
cliff, and landed at some cavernous rocks on the Illinois side, 
which the boatmen, with the usual propensity of unlettered 
men, called the Devil's Oven. We then recrossed the river, 
and, after ascending a distance along the western shore, were 
repulsed in an attempt, with the cordelle, to pass Garlic Point. 
The captain then made elaborate preparations for a second 
attempt, but again failed. A third effort, with all our appli- 
ances, was resolved on, but with no better success ; and we 
came-to, finally, for the night, in an eddy below the point, 
having advanced, during the day, seven miles. If we did not 
make rapid progress, I had good opportunities of seeing the 
country, and of contemplating this majestic river in one of its 
most characteristic phases — namely, its summer flood. I 
pleased myself by fancying, as I gazed upon its rushing eddies 
of mud and turbid matter, that I at least beheld a part of the 
Rocky mountains, passing along in the liquid state ! It was 
a sight that would have delighted the eyes of Hutton ; for 
methinks the quantity of detritus and broken-down strata 
would not have required, in his mind, many cycles to upbuild 
a continent. 

Mountains to chaos are by waters hurled, 
And re-create the geologic world. 



CHAPTER II. 

PASS CAPE GARLIC — OBRAZO RIVER — CLIFFS — EMIGRANTS — CAPE 
ST. COMB — BOIS BRULE BOTTOM — PAROQUET — FORT CHARTRES — 
KASKASKIA — ST. GENEVIEVE — M. BRETON — THE MISSISSIPPI 
DEFICIENT IN FISH — ANTIQUITIES — GEOLOGY— STEAMER — HER- 
CULANEUM — M. AUSTIN, ESQ., THE PIONEER TO TEXAS — JOURNEY 
ON FOOT TO ST. LOUIS — MISADVENTURES ON THE MARAMEC 
— ITS INDIAN NAME — CARONDELET — ST. LOUIS, ITS FINE SITE 
AND PROBABLE FUTURE IMPORTANCE — ST. LOUIS MOUNDS NOT 
ARTIFICIAL — DOWNWARD PRESSURE OF THE DILUVIAL DRIFT 
OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 

July 13tli. We renewed the attempt to pass Cape Garlic 
at an early hour, and succeeded after a protracted and severe 
trial. But two of our best men immediately declared their 
unwillingness to proceed farther in these severe labors, in which 
they were obliged to pull like oxen ; and they were promptly 
paid off by the captain, and permitted to return. The crew, 
thus diminished, went on a short distance further with the 
barge, and came-to at the mouth of the Obrazo river, to await 
the effort of our commander to procure additional hands. We 
had not now advanced more than two miles, which constituted 
the sum of this day's progress. While moored here, we were 
passed by four boats filled with emigrants from Vermont and 
Western New York, destined for Boon's Lick, on the Missouri. 
I embraced the occasion of this delay to make some excursions 
in the vicinity. 

July 14th. Having been successful in obtaining a reinforce- 
ment of hands from the interior, we pursued the ascent, and 
made six miles along the Missouri shore. The next day (15th) 

(32) 



EMIGRANTS. 33 

we ascended seven miles. This leisurely tracing of the coast 
revealed to me some of the minutest features of its geological 
structure. The cliffs consist of horizontal strata of limestone, 
resting on granular crystalline sandstone. Nothing can equal 
the beauty of the varying landscape presented for the last two 
days. There has appeared a succession of the most novel and 
interesting objects. Whatever pleasure can be derived from 
the contemplation of natural objects, presented in surprising 
and picturesque groups, can here be enjoyed in the highest 
degree. Even art may be challenged to contrast, with more 
effect, the bleak and rugged cliff with the verdant forest, the 
cultivated field, or the wide-extended surface of the Missis- 
sippi, interspersed with its beautiful islands, and winding 
majestically through a country, which only requires the im- 
provements of civilized and refined society, to render it one 
of the most delightful residences of man. Nor is it possible to 
contemplate the vast extent, fertility, resources, and increasing 
population of this immeasurable valley, without feeling a desire 
that our lives could be prolonged to an unusual period, that 
we might survey, an hundred years hence, the improved social 
and political condition of the country, and live to participate 
in its advantages, improvements, and power. 

All the emigrants whom we have passed seem to be buoyed 
up by a hopeful and enterprising character ; and, although 
most of them are manifestly from the poorest classes, and are 
from twelve to fifteen hundred miles on their adventurous 
search for a new home, from none have I heard a word of 
despondency. 

July 16th. I observed to-day, at Cape St. Comb, large 
angular fragments of a species of coarse granular sandstone 
rock, which appear to be disjecta memhra of a much more 
recent formation than that underlying the prevalent surface 
formation. 

The gay and noisy paroquet was frequently seen, this day, 
wheeling in flocks over the river ; and at one point, which was 
revealed suddenly, we beheld a large flock of pelicans standing 
along a low, sandy peninsula. Either the current, during 

c 



34 ASCENT OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 

to-day's voyage, was less furious, or the bargemen exerted 
more strength or skill ; for we ascended ten miles, and en- 
camped at the foot of Bois Brule (Burnt-wood) bottom. The 
term "bottom" is applied, in the West, to extensive tracts of 
level and arable alluvial soil, whether covered by, or denuded 
of, native forest trees. "VVe found it the commencement of a 
comparatively populous and flourishing settlement, having on 
the next day (17th) passed along its mai-gin for seven miles. 
Its entire length is twelve miles. 

July 18th. The most prominent incidents of this day were 
the passing, on the Illinois shore, of the celebrated site of fort 
Chartres, and the influx of the Kaskaskia (or, as it is abbre- 
viated by the men, Ocaw or Caw) river — a lai-ge stream on the 
eastern shore. These names will recall some of the earliest 
and most stirring scenes of Illinois history. The town of 
Kaskaskia, which is the present seat of the territorial govern- 
ment, is seated seven miles above its mouth. 

Fort Chartres is now a ruin, and, owing to the capricious 
channel of the Mississippi, is rapidly tumbling into it. It had 
been a regular work, built of stone, according to the principles 
of military art. Its Avails formerly contained not only the chief 
element of military power in French Illinois, but also sheltered 
the ecclesiastics and traders of the time. In an old manuscript 
journal of that fort which I have seen, a singular custom of the 
Osages is mentioned, on the authority of one Mons. Jeredot. 
He says (Dec. 22, 1766) that they have a feast, which they 
generally celebrate about the month of March, when they 
bake a lai'ge (corn) cake of about three or four feet diameter, 
and of two or three inches thickness. This is cut into pieces, 
from the centre to the circumference; and the principal chief 
or warrior arises and advances to the cake, when he declares 
his valor, and recounts his noble actions. If he is not contra- 
dicted, or none has aught to allege against him, he takes a 
piece of the cake, and distributes it among the boys of the 
nation, repeating to them his noble exploits, and exhorting 
them to imitate them. Another then approaches, and in the 
same manner recounts his achievements, and proceeds as be- 



PONTIAC. 35 

fore. Should any one attempt to take of the cake, to whose 
character there is the least exception, he is stigmatized and 
set aside as a poltroon. 

It is said by some of the oldest and most intelligent inhabit- 
ants of St. Louis, that about 1768, when the British had 
obtained possession of fort Chartres, a very nefarious transac- 
tion took place in that vicinity, in the assassination of the 
celebrated Indian chief Pontiac. Tradition tells us that this 
man had exercised great influence in the North and West, and 
that he resisted the transfer of authority from the French to 
the English, on the fall of Canada. Carver has a story on 
this subject, detailing the siege of Detroit in 1763, which has 
been generally read. The version of Pontiac's death in Illi- 
nois, is this : — While encamped in this vicinity, an Illinois 
Indian, who had given in his adherence to the new dynasty 
of the English, was hired by the promise of rum, by some 
English traders, to assassinate the chief, while the latter was 
reposing on his pallet at night, still vainly dreaming, perhaps, 
of driving the English out of America, and of restoring his 
favorite Indo-Gallic empire in the West. 

July 19th. We ascended the Mississippi seven miles yester- 
day, to which, by all appliances, we added eleven miles to-day, 
which is our maximum ascent in one day. Five miles of this 
distance, along the Missouri shore, consists of the great public 
field of St. Genevieve. This field is a monument of early 
French policy in the days of Indian supremacy, when the agri- 
cultural population of a village was brought to labor in prox- 
imity, so that any sudden and capricious attack of the natives 
could be efi'ectively repelled. We landed at the mouth of the 
Gabarie, a small stream which passes through the town. St. 
Genevieve lies on higher ground, above the reach of the inun- 
dations, about a mile west of the landing. It consists of some 
three hundred wooden houses, including several stores, a post- 
ofiice, court-house, Roman Catholic church, and a branch of 
the Missouri Bank, having a capital of fifty thousand dollars. 
The town is one of the principal markets and places of ship- 
ment for the Missouri lead-mines. Heavy stacks of lead in 



36 ST. GENEVIEVE. 

pigs, are one of the chief characteristics which I saw in, and 
often piled up in front of, its storehouses ; and they give one 
the idea of a considerable export in this article. 

July 20th. I devoted this day to a reconnoissance of St. 
Genevieve and its environs. The style of building reminds 
one of the ancient Belgic and Dutch settlements on the banks 
of the Hudson and Mohawk — high-pointed roofs to low one- 
story-buildings, and large stone chimneys out-doors. The 
streets are narrow, and the whole village as compact as if built 
to sustain a siege. The water of the Mississippi is falling 
rapidly, and leaves on the shores a deposit of mud, varying 
from a foot to two feet in depth. This recent deposit appears 
to consist essentially of silex and alumine, in a state of very 
intimate mixture. An opinion is prevalent throughout this 
country, that the water of the Mississippi, with every impu- 
rity, is healthful as a common drink ; and accordingly the 
boatmen, and many of the inhabitants on the banks of the 
river, make use of no other water. An expedient resorted to 
at first, perhaps, from necessity, may be continued from an 
impression of the benefits resulting from it. I am not well 
enough acquainted with the chemical properties of the water, 
or the method in which it operates on the human system, to 
deny its utility ; but, to my palate, clear spring-water is far 
preferable. A simple method is pursued for clarifying it: a 
handful of Indian meal is sprinkled on the surface of a vessel 
of water, precipitating the mud to the bottom, and the super- 
incumbent water is left in a tolerable state of purity. 

July 2] St. We again set forward this morning. On ascend- 
ing three miles, we came to Little Rock ferry — a noted point 
of crossing from the east to the west of the Mississippi. The 
most remarkable incident in the history of this place is the 
residence of an old French soldier, of an age gone by, who 
has left his name in the geography of the surrounding country. 
M. Breton, the person alluded to, is stated to be, at this time, 
one hundred and nine years of age. Tradition says that he 
was at Braddock's defeat — at the siege of Louisbourg — at the 



INDIAN ANTIQUITIES. 37 

building of foi't Chartres, in the Illinois — and at the siege of 
Bergen-op-Zoom, in Flanders. While wandering as a hunter, 
after his military services had ended, in the country about 
forty miles west of the Mississippi, he discovered the extensive 
lead-mines which continue to bear his name. 

We ascended this day twelve miles, which is the utmost 
stretch of our exertions against the turbid and heavy tide of 
this stream. Our captain (Ensminger) looked in the evening 
as if he had been struggling all day in a battle, and his men 
took to their pallets as if exhausted to the last degree. 

July 22d. I have seen very little, thus far, in the Missis- 
sippi, in the shape of fish. The only species noticed has been 
the gar ; one of which I caught, as described, from the side of 
the boat, while lying at the mouth of the Ohio. Of all rivers 
in the West, I should think it the least favorable to this form 
of organized matter. Of the coarse species of the catfish and 
buffalo-fish which are found in its waters, I suppose the freshet 
has deprived us of a sight. 

Of antiquities, I have seen nothing since leaving the Ohio 
valley till this day, when I picked up, in my rambles on shore, 
an ancient Indian dart, of chert. The Indian antiquities on 
the Illinois shore, however, are stated to be very extensive. 
Near the Kaskaskia river are numerous mounds and earth- 
works, which denote a heavy ancient population. 

The limestone cliffs, at the place called Dormant Rocks, 
assume a very imposing appearance. These precipitous walls 
bear the marks of attrition in water-lines, very plainly im- 
pressed, at great heights above the present water-level ; creat- 
ing the idea that they may have served as barriers to some 
ancient ocean resting on the grand prairies of Illinois. 

We were passed, near evening, by the little steamer Harriet, 
on her descent from St. Louis. This vessel is the same that 
was noticed on the 11th, on her ascent, and is the only repre- 
sentative of steam-power that we have observed.* Our ascent 
this day was estimated at thirteen miles. 

* I found fifty steamers of all sizes on the Mississippi and its tributa- 
ries, of which a list is published in the Appendix. 

4 



38 JOURNEY ON FOOT. 

July 23d. Passing the Flatten creek, the prominence called 
Cornice Rock, and the promontory of Joachim creek, an ascent 
of five miles brought us to the town of Herculaneum. This 
name of a Roman city buried for ages, gives, at least, a moral 
savor of antiquity to a country whose institutions are all new 
and nascent. It was bestowed, I believe, by Mr. Austin, who 
is one of the principal proprietors of the place. It consists 
of between thirty and forty houses, including three stores, a 
post-office, court-house, and school. There are three shot- 
towers on the adjoining cliffs, and some mills, with a tan-yard 
and a distillery, in the vicinity. It is also a mart for the lead- 
mine country. 

I had now ascended one hundred and seventy miles from the 
junction of the Ohio. This had required over twenty-two 
days, which gives an average ascent of between seven and 
eight miles per day, and sufficiently denotes the difficulty of 
propelling boats up this stream by manual labor. 

At Herculaneum I was introduced to M. Austin, Esq. — a 
gentleman who had been extensively engaged in the mining 
business while the country was yet under Spanish jurisdiction, 
and who was favorably known, a few years after, as the prime 
mover of the incipient steps to colonize Texas. Verbal inform- 
ation, from him and others, appeared to make this a favorable 
point from which to proceed into the interior, for the purpose 
of examining its mineral structure and peculiarities. I there- 
fore determined to leave my baggage here until I had visited 
the territorial capital, St. Louis. This was still thirty miles 
distant, and, after making the necessary preparations, I set 
out, on the 26th of the month, on foot. In this journey I was 
joined by my two comjoagnons de voyage from Pennsylvania 
and Maryland. We began our march at an early hour. The 
summer had now assumed all its fervor, and power of relaxa- 
tion and lassitude on the muscles of northern constitutions. 
We set out on foot early, but, as the day advanced, the sun 
beat down powerfully, and the air seemed to owe all its pater- 
nity to tropical regions. It was in vain we reached the summit 
land. There was no breeze, and the forest trees were too few 
and widely scattered to afford any appreciable shade. 



THE MARAMEC RIVER. 39 

The soil of the Missouri uplands appears to possess a uni- 
form character, although it is better developed in some localities 
than in others. It is the red mineral clay, which, in some of 
its conditions, yields beds of galena throughout the mine coun- 
try, bearing fragments of quartz in some of its numerous 
varieties. In these uplands, its character is not so well marked 
as in the districts further west ; geologically considered, how- 
ever, it is identical in age and relative position. The gullied, 
character of the soil, and its liability to crumble under the 
effect of rain, and to be carried off, which was first noticed at 
Cape Girardeau, is observed along this portion of the river, 
and is most obvious in the gulfy state of the roads. 

What added greatly to our fatigue in crossing this tract, was 
the having taken a too westerly path, which gave us a round- 
about tramp. On returning to the main track, we forded Cold 
river, a rapid and clear brook ; a little beyond which, we 
reached a fine, large, crystal spring, the waters of which bub- 
bled up briskly and bright, and ran off from their point of 
outbreak to the river we had just crossed, leaving a white 
deposit of sulphur. The water is pretty strongly impregnated 
with this mineral, and is supposed to have a beneficial efi'ect 
in bilious complaints. The scenery in the vicinity of the spring 
is highly picturesque, and the place is capable of being made 
a delightful resort. 

Ywe miles more brought us to the banks of the Maramec 
river, where we arrived at dark, and prevailed with the ferry- 
man to take us across, notwithstanding the darkness of the 
night, and the rain, which, after having threatened a shower 
all the afternoon, now began to fall. The Maramec is the 
principal stream of the mine country, and is the recipient of 
affluents, spreading over a large area. The aboriginal name 
of this stream, INIr. Austin informed me, should be written 
"Marameg." The ferryman seemed in no hurry to put us 
over this wide river, at so late an hour, and with so portentous 
a sky as hung over us, threatening every moment to pour down 
floods upon us. By the time we had descended from his house 
into the valley, and he had put us across to the opposite shore, 
it was dark. We took his directions for finding the house at 



40 AN UNPLEASANT PREDICAMENT. 

which we expected to lodge ; but it soon became so intensely 
dark, that we pursued a wrong track, which led us away from 
the shelter we sought. Satisfied at length that we had erred, 
we knew not what to do. It then began to pour down rain. 
"We groped about a while, but finally stood still. In this posi- 
tion, we had not remained long, when the faint tinkling of a 
cow-bell, repeated leisurely, as if the animal were housed, fell 
on our ears. The direction of the sound was contrary to that 
we had been taking ; but we determined to grope our way 
cautiously toward it, guided at intervals by flashes of lightning 
which lit up the woods, and standing still in the meanwhile to 
listen. At length we came to a fence. This was a guide, 
and by keeping along one side of it, it led us to the house of 
which Ave were in search. We found that, deducting our mis- 
adventure in the morning, we had advanced on our way, 
directly, but about fifteen miles. 

July 2Tth. We were again on our path at a seasonable 
hour, and soon passed out of the fertile and heavily timbered 
valley of the Maramec. There noAV commenced a gentle ridge, 
running parallel to the Mississippi river for twelve miles. 
In this distance there was not a single house, nor any trace 
that man had bestowed any permanent labor. It was sparsely 
covered with oaks, standing at long distances apart, with the 
intervening spaces profusely covered with prairie grass and 
flowers. We frequently saw the deer bounding before us ; and 
the views, in which we sometimes caught glimpses of the river, 
were of a highly sylvan character. But the heat of the day 
was intense, and we sweltered beneath it. About half-way, we 
encountered a standing spring, in a sort of open cavern at the 
foot of a hill, and stooped down and drank. We then went 
on, still "faint and wearily," to the old French village of Ca- 
rondelet, which bears the soubriquet of Vede-pouche (empty 
sack). It contains about sixty wooden buildings, arranged 
mostly in a single street. Here we took breakfast. 

Being now within six miles of the place of our destination, 
and recruited and refreshed, we pushed on with more alacrity. 
The first three miles led through a kind of brushy heath, Avhich 



ST. LOUIS. 41 

had the appearance of having once been covered with large trees 
that had all been cut away for firing, with here and there a dry 
trunk, denuded and white, looking like ghosts of a departed 
forest. Patches of cultivation, with a few buildings, then 
supervened. These tokens of a better state of things increased 
in frequency and value till we reached the skirts of the town, 
which we entered about four o'clock in the afternoon. 

St. Louis impressed me as a geographical position of super- 
lative advantages for a city. It now contains about five hun- 
dred and fifty houses, and five thousand inhabitants. It has 
forty stores, a post-office, a land-ofiice, two chartered banks, a 
court-house, jail, theatre, three churches, one brewery, two dis- 
tilleries, two water-mills, a steam flouring-mill, and other 
improvements. These elements of prosperity are but indica- 
tions of what it is destined to become. The site is unsurpassed 
for its beauty and permanency ; a limestone formation rising 
from the shores of the Mississippi, and extending gradually to 
the upper plain. It is in north latitude 38° 36', nearly equi- 
distant fi-om the Alleghany and the Rocky mountains. It is 
twelve hundred miles above New Orleans, and about one thou- 
sand below St. Anthony's falls. 

No place in the world, situated so far from the ocean, can 
at all compare with St. Louis for commercial advantages. It 
is so situated with regard to the surrounding country, as to 
become the key to its commerce, and the storehouse of its 
wealth ; and if the whole western region be surveyed with a 
geographical eye, it must rest with unequalled interest on that 
peninsula of land formed by the junction of the Missouri with 
the Mississippi — a point occupied by the town of St. Louis. 
Standing near the confluence of two such mighty streams, an 
almost immeasurable extent of back country must flow to it 
with its produce, and be supplied from it with merchandise. 
The main branch of the Missouri is navigable two thousand 
five hundred miles, and the most inconsiderable of its tributary 
streams will vie with the largest rivers of the Atlantic States. 
The Mississippi, on the other hand, is navigable without inter- 
ruption for one thousand miles above St. Louis. Its affluents, 

the De Corbeau, Iowa, Wisconsin, St. Pierre, Rock river. Salt 
4 * 



42 ITS GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION. 

river, and Desmoines, are all streams of the first magnitude, 
and navigable for many hundred miles. The Illinois is navi- 
gable three hundred miles ; and ■when the communication 
between it and the lakes, and between the Mississippi and lake 
Superior, and the lake of the Woods — between the Missouri and 
the Columbia valley — shall be effected; communications not 
only pointed out, but, in some instances, almost completed by 
nature ; what a chain of connected navigation shall we be- 
hold ! And by looking upon the map, we shall find St. Louis 
the focus where all these streams are destined to be discharged 
— the point where all this vast commerce must centre, and 
where the wealth flowing from these prolific sources must pre- 
eminently crown her the queen of the west. 

My attention was called to two large mounds, on the western 
bank of the Mississippi, a short distance above St. Louis. I 
have no hesitation in expressing the opinion that they are geo- 
logical, and not artificial. Indian bodies have been buried in 
their sides, precisely as they are often buried by the natives in 
other elevated grounds, for which they have a preference. 
But the mounds themselves consist of sand, boulders, pebbles, 
and other drift materials, such as are common to undisturbed 
positions in the Mississippi valley generally. 

Another subject in the physical geography of the country 
attracted my notice, the moment the river fell low enough to 
expose its inferior shores, spits, and sand-bars. It is the pro- 
gressive diffusion of its detritus from superior to inferior posi- 
tions in its length. Among this transported material I observed 
numerous small fragments of those agates, and other silicious 
minerals of the quartz family, which characterize the broad 
diluvial tracts about its sources and upper portions. 



CHAPTER III. 

RESOLVE TO PROCEED FURTHER WEST — NIGHT VOYAGE ON THE 
MISSISSIPPI IN A SKIFF — AN ADVENTURE — PROCEED ON FOOT 
WEST TO THE MISSOURI MINES — INCIDENTS BY THE WAY — 
MINERS' VILLAGE OF SHIBBOLETH — COMPELLED BY A STORM TO 
PASS THE NIGHT AT OLD MINES — REACH POTOSI — FAVORABLE 

RECEPTION BY THE MINING GENTRY PASS SEVERAL MONTHS 

IN EXAMINING THE MINES — ORGANIZE AN EXPEDITION TO EX- 
PLORE WESTWARD — ITS COMPOSITION — DISCOURAGEMENTS ON 
SETTING OUT — PROCEED, NOTWITHSTANDING — INCIDENTS OF THE 
JOURNEY TO THE VALLEY OF LEAVES. 

I WAS kindly received by some persons I had before known, 
particularly by a professional gentleman with whom I had 
descended the Alleghany river in the preceding month of 
March, who invited me to remain at his house. I had now 
proceeded about seventeen hundred miles from my starting- 
point in Western New York ; and after passing a few days in 
examining the vicinity, and comparing facts, I resolved on the 
course it would be proper to pursue, in extending my journey 
further west and south-west. I had felt, for many years, an 
interest in the character and resources of the mineralogy of 
this part of what I better knew as Upper Louisiana, and its 
reported mines of lead, silver, copper, salt, and other natural 
productions. I had a desire to see the country which De Soto 
had visited, west of the Mississippi, and I wished to trace its 
connection with the true Cordillera of the United States — the 
Stony or Rocky mountains. My means for undertaking this 
were rather slender. I had already drawn heavily on these in 
my outward trip. But I felt (I believe from early reading) an 
irrepressible desire to explore this region. I was a good 

(43) 



44 NIGHT VOYAGE ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 

draughtsman, mapper, and geographer, a ready penman, a 
rapid sketcher, and a naturalist devoted to mineralogy and 
geology, with some readiness as an assayer and experimental 
chemist ; and I relied on these as both aids and recommenda- 
tions — as, in short, the incipient means of success. 

When ready to embark on the Mississippi, I was joined by 
my two former companions in the ascent from the mouth of the 
Ohio. It was late in the afternoon of one of the hottest sum- 
mer days, wfien we took our seats together inji light skiff at 
St. Louis, and pushed out into the Mississippi, which was still 
in floqd, but rapidly falling, intending to reach Cahokia that 
night. But the atmosphere soon became overcast, and, when 
night came on, it was so intensely dark that we could not dis- 
criminate objects at much distance. Floating, in a light pine 
skiff, in the centre of such a stream, on a very dark night, our 
fate seemed suspended by a thread. The downward pressure 
of the current was such, that we needed not to move an oar ; 
and every eye was strained, by holding it down parallel to the 
water, to discover contiguous snags, or floating bodies. It 
became, at the same time, quite cold. We at length made a 
shoal covered with willows, or a low sandy islet, on the left, or 
Illinois shore. Here, one of my Youghioghany friends, who 
had not yet got over his 2^^nchant for grizzly bears, returned 
from reconnoitering the bushes, with the cry of this prairie 
monster with a cub. It was too dark to scrutinize, and, as we 
had no arms, we pushed on hurriedly about a mile further, and 
laid down, rather than slept, on the shore, without victuals or 
fire. At daylight, for which we waited anxiously, we found 
ourselves nearly opposite Carondelet, to which we rowed, and 
where we obtained a warm breakfast. Before we had finished 
eating, our French landlady called for pay. Whether any- 
thing on our part had awakened her suspicions, or the decep- 
tion of others had rendered the precaution necessary, I cannot 
say. Recruited in spirits by this meal, and by the opening of 
a fine, clear day, we pursued our way, without further misad- 
venture, about eighteen miles, and landed at Herculaneum. 

The next day, which was the last of July, I set out on foot 
for the mines, having directed my trunks to follow me by the 



JOURNEY ON FOOT. 45 

first returning lead-teams. My course led through an open, 
rolling country, covered with grass, shrubs, and prairie flowers, 
and having but few trees. There was consequently little or no 
shade, and, the weather being sultry, I suiFered much from heat 
and thirst. For the space of about twelve miles, the road ran 
over an elevated ridge, destitute of streams or springs. I did 
not meet an individual, nor see anything of the animal creation 
larger than a solitary wild turkey, which, during the hottest 
part of the day, came to contest Avith me for, or rather had 
previously reached, some water standing in a wagon-rut. I 
gained the head of the Joachim creek before nightfall, and, 
having taken lodgings, hastened down to a sheltered part of 
the channel to bathe, after which I enjoyed a refreshing night's 
sleep. The aboriginal name of this stream was " Zwashau," 
meaning pin-oak, as I was told by an old hunter whom I met. 
The next day I was early on my way ; and I soon began to 
discover, in the face of the country, evidences of its metallife- 
rous character. Twelve miles brought me to the valley of 
Grand or Big river, one of the principal tributaries of the 
Maramec. In descending the high grounds, I observed nu- 
merous specimens of the brown oxide of iron ; and after cross- 
ing the ferry, the mineral locally called mineral blossom, 
(radiated quartz,) of which I had noticed slight traces before, 
developed itself in fine specimens. The first mining village I 
came to, bore the name of Shibboleth. At this place there was 
a smelting furnace, of the kind called a log-furnace. Here I 
first saw heaps of the ore of lead commonly found. It is the 
sulphuret, of a broad glittering grain, and cubical fracture. 
It is readily smelted, being piled on logs of equal length, and 
adjusted in the before-named furnace, where it is roasted till 
the sulphur is driven off; when desulphurated, it melts, and 
the metal is received on an inclined plane and conducted into 
an orifice, from which it is ladled into moulds. From fifty to 
sixty per cent, is obtained in this way. Shibboleth is the 
property of John Smith T. ; a man whose saturnine temper 
and disposition have brought him into collision with many 
persons, and given him a wide-spread notoriety both in Mis- 
souri and Tennessee. 



46 THE MINING REGION. 

I lingered along so leisurely, and stopped so often to exa- 
mine objects by the way, that my progress was not rapid. I 
obtained some corn-bread and milk at a house, and pursued 
my journey to Old Mines, where a heavy storm of rain arose. 
I took shelter at a neighboring house, where I remained during 
the night. The next morning I walked into Potosi, and took 
lodgings at Mr. William Ficklin's. This gentleman Avas a 
native of Kentucky, where most of his life had been passed in 
the perils and adventures attending the early settlement of 
that State. His conversation was replete with anecdotes of 
perilous adventures which he had experienced ; and I was 
indebted to him for some necessary practical points of know- 
ledge in forest life, and precautions in travelling in an Indian 
country. 

The day after my arrival was a local election day, for a 
representative from the county in the territorial legislature, to 
which Mr. Austin the younger was returned. This brought 
together the principal mining and agricultural gentlemen of the 
region, and was a circumstance of some advantage to me, in 
extending my acquaintance, and making known the objects of 
my visit. In this, the Austins, father and son, were most kind 
and obliging. Indeed, the spirit with which I was received by 
the landed proprietors of the country generally, and the frank- 
ness and urbanity of their manners and sentiments, inspired 
me with high hopes of success in making a mineralogical survey 
of the country. 

I found the geological structure of the country, embracing 
the mines, to be very uniform. It consists of a metalliferous 
limestone, in horizontal strata, which have not been lifted up 
or disturbed from their horizontality by volcanic forces ; but 
they have been exposed to the laws of disintegration and ele- 
mental action in a very singular manner. By this action, the 
surface of the formation has been divided into ridges, valleys, 
and hills, producing inequalities of the most striking and pic- 
turesque character. 

There are some forty principal mines, in an area of about 
seventy miles by thirty or forty in breadth. The chief ore of 
lead smelted is galena. The associated minerals of most pro- 



GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS. 47 

minence are sulphate of barytes, sulphuret of zinc, calcareous 
spar, and crystallized quartz, chiefly in radiated crystals. I 
spent upwards of three months in a survey of the mines of 
chief consequence, noting their peculiarities and geological 
features. By far the most remarkable feature in the general 
structure of the country, consists of the existence of a grani- 
tical tract at the sources of the river St. Francis. This I par- 
ticularly examined. The principal elevations consist of red 
sienite and greenstone, lying in their usual forms of mountain 
masses. The geological upheavals which have brought these 
masses to their present elevations, appear to have been of the 
most ancient character ; for the limestones and crystalline 
sandstones have been deposited, in perfectly horizontal beds, 
against their sides. 

Feeling a desire to compare this formation with the structure 
of the country west and south of it, extending to the Rocky 
mountains, and satisfied at the same time that these primary 
peaks constituted the mineral region of De Soto's most north- 
erly explorations, I determined to extend my explorations 
south-westwardly. The term " Ozark mountains" is popularly 
applied to the broad and elevated highlands which stretch in 
this direction, reaching from the Maramec to the Arkansas. 
Having obtained the best information accessible from hunters 
and others who had gone farthest in that direction, I deter- 
mined to proceed, as early as I could complete my arrange- 
ments for that purpose, to explore those elevations. 

Colonel W. H. Ashley, who had penetrated into this region, 
together with several enterprising hunters and woodsmen, 
represented it as metalliferous, and abounding in scenes of 
varied interest. It had been the ancient hunting-ground of 
the Osages, a wild and predatory tribe, who yet infested its 
fastnesses ; and it was represented as subject to severe risks 
from this cause. Two or three of the woodsmen, who were 
best acquainted with this tract, expressed a willingness to ac- 
company me on a tour of exploration. I therefore, in the 
month of October, revisited St. Louis and Illinois, for the pur- 
pose of making final arrangements for the tour, and obtained 
the consent of Mr. Brigham and Mr. Pettibone, previously 



48 DIFFICULTIES AT STARTING. 

mentioned, to accompany me. A day was appointed for our 
assembling at Potosi. I then returned to complete my arrange- 
ments. I purchased a stout, low-priced horse, to carry such 
supplies as were requisite, made his pack-saddle with my own 
hands, and had it properly riveted by a smith. A pair of 
blankets for sleeping ; a small, short-handled frying-pan ; a 
new axe, a tin coffee-pot, three tin cups, and the same number 
of tin plates ; a couple of hunting-knives ; a supply of lead, 
shot, ball, powder, and flints ; a small smith's hammer, and 
nails for setting a horseshoe ; a horse-bell and strap ; a pocket 
compass ; a gun, shot-pouch, and appendages, containing a 
space for my diary ; a mineral-hammer, constructed under my 
own directions, so as to embrace a small mortar on one face, 
and capable of unscrewing at the handle, which could be used 
as a pestle ; a supply of stout clothing, a bear-skin and oil- 
cloth, some bacon, tea, sugar, salt, hard bread, &c., constituted 
the chief articles of outfit. The man of whom I purchased the 
horse called him by the unpoetic name of "Butcher." 

It was the beginning of November before my friends arrived, 
and on the sixth of that month we packed the horse, and took 
our way over the mineral hills that surround Potosi, making 
our first encampment in a little valley, on the margin of a 
stream called Bates's creek. 

It was fine autumn weather ; the leaves of the forest were 
mostly sere, and the winds scattered them about us with an 
agreeable movement, as we wound among the hills. We were 
evidently following an old Indian trail, and, finding a rather 
tenable old wigwam, constructed of poles and bark, we pitched 
upon it as our first place of encampment. My kind host from 
Kentucky, with whom I had been staying, accompanied us thus 
far, to see us safely in the woods, and taught me the art of 
hobbling a horse, and tying on his night-bell. The hunters, 
who had talked rather vaingloriously of their prowess among 
wild animals and Osages, one by one found obstacles to impede 
their going. Finally, one of my companions was compelled to 
return, owing to a continued attack of fever and ague. I 
determined, nevertheless, to proceed, thinking that a hunter 
could be found to join us before quitting the verge of civiliza- 



FIKST NIGHT IN THE WILDERNESS. 49 

tion. Having unpacked Butcher, prepared him for the night, 
stowed away the baggage, and built a fire, I took my gun and 
sallied out into the forest, while my companion prepared things 
for our supper. I found the greatest abundance of large black 
and grey squirrels in a neighboring wood, and returned with a 
number of the finest of them in season to add to our evening's 
meal. 

A man's first night in the wilderness is impressive. Our 
friends had left us, and returned to Potosi. Gradually all 
sounds of animated nature ceased. When darkness closed 
around us, the civilized world seemed to have drawn its cur- 
tains, and excluded us. We put fresh sticks on the fire, which 
threw a rich flash of light on our camp, and finally wrapped 
ourselves in our blankets, and, amidst ruminations on the pecu- 
liarities of our position, our hopes, and our dangers, we sank 
to sleep. 

Nov. 7th. The first thing listened for this morning was the 
tinkle of our horse's bell. But Butcher was gone. All my 
precautions had been in vain. The poor beast appeared to 
have had a presentiment of the hard fare that was before him, 
and, although his fore-feet were tethered, and he must lift up 
both together to jump, yet, having a strong recollection of the 
corn-fodder and juicy blades left behind him, he had made his 
way back to the mines. I immediately went in pursuit of him. 
He was easily tracked until he got to a space of rank herbage, 
•where I lost the track, and hearing, at the same moment, a 
bell to the left, I pursued the sound over hill and through dale, 
till I came out at a farm-yard on Mine creek, four miles below 
Potosi, where I found the bell whose sound I had followed 
attached to the neck of a stately penned ox. The owner told 
me that Butcher had reached the mines, and been sent back to 
my camp by his former owner. I had nothing left but to 
retrace my steps, which, luckily, were but the shorter line of 
an acute triangle. I found him at the camp. It was, how- 
ever, ten o'clock before our breakfast was despatched, and the 
horse repacked ready for starting. We took the labor of lead- 
ing the horse, and carrying the compass and guiding, day 
5 D 



60 THE PINERY — LAW'S FORK. 

about, so as to equalize these duties, and leave no cause for 
dissatisfaction. Our trail carried us across the succession of 
elevated and arid ridges called the Pinery. Not a habitation 
of any kind, nor the vestiges of one, was passed ; neither did 
we observe any animal, or even bird. The soil was sterile. 
hard, and flinty, bearing yellow pines, with some oaks. Our 
general course was west-south-west. The day was mild and 
pleasant for the season. For a computed distance of fourteen 
miles, we encountered a succession of ascents and descents, which 
made us rejoice, as evening approached, to see a tilled valley 
before us. It proved to be the location of a small branch of 
the Maramec river, called by its original French name of 
Fourclie a Courtois. The sun sank below the hills as we en- 
tered this valley. Some woodcock flew up as we reached the 
low ground ; but as we had a cabin in view, and the day was 
far gone, we moved on toward our principal object. Presently 
the loud barking of dogs announced our approach ; they 
Beemed, by their clamor, as pertinacious as if two wolves or 
panthers Avere stealing on the tenement, till they were silenced 
by the loud commands of their master. It was a small log 
building, of the usual construction on the frontiers, and af- 
forded the usual hospitality, and ready accommodations. They 
gave us warm cakes of corn-bread, and fine rich milk ; and, 
spreading our blankets before the fire, we enjoyed sound slum- 
bers. Butcher, here, had his last meal of corn, and made no 
attempt to escape. 

Nov. 8th. With the earliest streaks of daylight we adjusted 
our pack for the horse, and again set forward on the trail. In 
the course of two miles' travel, we forded a stream called Law's 
Fork, and also the branch of the Maramec on which we had 
lodged the previous night. We soon after descried a hunter's 
cabin, a small and newly erected hut in the midst of the forest, 
occupied by a man named Alexander Roberts. This proved 
the last house we encountered, and was estimated to be twenty 
miles from Potosi. Some trees had been felled and laid 
around, partially burned ; but not a spot of ground was in cul- 
tivation. Dogs, lean and hungry, heralded our approach, as 



OBTAIN A GUIDE. 51 

in the former instance ; and thej barked loud and long. On 
reaching the cabin, we found that the man was not at home, 
having left it, his wife said, with his rifle, at an early hour, in 
search of game. She thought he would be back before noon, 
and that he would accompany us. We decided to await his 
return, and in the meanwhile prepared our frugal breakfas^ 
In a short time, Roberts returned ; he was a chunky, sinister- 
looking fellow, and reminded me of Ali Baba, in the " Forty 
Thieves." He had a short, greasy buckskin frock, and a 
pointed old hat. His wife, who peeped out of the door, looked 
queer, and had at least one resemblance to Cogia, which seemed 
to be "starvation." The hunter had killed nothing, and 
agreed to accompany us, immediately beginning his prepara- 
tions. He at the same time informed us of the fear enter- 
tained of the Osages, and other matters connected with our 
journey in the contemplated direction. About ten o'clock he 
was ready, and, leading a stout little compact horse from a pen, 
he clapped a saddle on, seized his rifle, announced himself as 
ready, and led off. The trail led up a long ridge, which ap- 
peared to be the dividing ground between the two principal 
forks of the Mararaec. It consisted of a stiff loam, filled with 
geological drift, which, having been burned over for ages by 
the Indians, to fit it for hunting in the fall of the year, had 
little carbonaceous soil left, and exhibited a hard and arid 
surface. Our general course was still west-south-west. After 
proceeding about four miles, our path came to the summit of 
an eminence, from which we descried the valley of the Ozau, 
or Ozark fork. This valley consisted entirely of prairie. 
Scarcely a tree was visible in it. The path wound down the 
declivity, and across the valley. The soil appeared to be fer- 
tile. Occupying one bank of the stream, nearly in the centre 
of the valley, we passed a cluster of Indian wigwams, inha- 
bited alone by the old men, women, and children ; the young 
men being absent, hunting. We found them to be Lenno- 
Lenapees, or, in other words, Delawares ; being descendants 
of the Indians whom William Penn found, in 1682, in the 
pleasant forest village of Coacquannok, where Philadelphia 
now stands. Strange, but not extraordinary history ! They 



62 INDIANS — WILD VENISON. 

have been shoved back by civilization, in tlie course of a hun- 
dred and thirty-six years' mutations, over the Alleghanies — 
over the Mississippi — into the spurs of these mountains. 
Where they will be after the lapse of a similar period, no one 
can say. But this can be said — that the hunting of deer will 
|dve out ; and if they do not betake themselves to some other 
means of subsistence, they will be numbered among the 
nations that were. 

Roberts informed me that four or five miles lower down the 
valley was a village of Shawnees, and, higher up, another vil- 
lage of Delawares. 

On reaching the uplands on the west side of the valley, we 
pursued the trail up its banks about four or five miles, and 
encamped by daylight near a clump of bushes at a spring. As 
I was expert in striking and kindling a fire, this became a duty 
to w^hich I devoted myself during the entire journey, while my 
companion busied himself in> preparations for our repast. 
Roberts reconnoitred the vicinity, and came in with a report 
that we had reached a game country. 

We were now fairly beyond the line of all settlements, even 
the most remote, and had entered on that broad highland tract 
to which, for geographical distinction, the name of Ozark moun- 
tains is applied. This tract reaches through Missouri and 
Arkansas, from the Maramec to the Wachita, and embraces 
the middle high lands between the plains at the foot of the 
Rocky mountains, and the rapids of the Maramec, St. Fran- 
cis, Osage, White, Arkansas, and other principal streams; 
these traverse a belt of about two hundred miles east and 
west, by seven hundred miles north and south. It is a sort 
of Rheingau, through which the rivers burst. 

Nov. 9th. Early in the morning, Roberts brought in the 
carcase of a fine deer ; and we made our first meal on wild 
venison, cut fresh smoking from the tenderest parts, and 
roasted on sticks to suit our tastes. This put every one in the 
best of spirits, and we packed a supply of the meat for our 
evening's repast. Seeing that Roberts was more at home 
among the game, and that he had but a sorry knife for the 



THE VALLEY OF LEAVES. 53 

business, I loaned him a fine new belt and knife, with its 
sheath, for the day. We now travelled up the Ozark fork 
about eighteen miles. The weather was exhilarating, and the 
winds were careering with the leaves of the forest, and cast- 
ing them in profusion in cur track. As we came near the 
sources of the river, we entered a wide prairie, perfectly 
covered for miles with these leaves, brought from neighboring 
forests. At every step the light masses were kicked or brushed 
away before us. This plain, or rather level vale, was crowned 
in the distance by elevations fringed with tall trees which still 
held some of their leafy honors, giving a very picturesque cha- 
racter to the landscape. I booked the scene at night, in my diary, 
as Cliola, or the Valley of Leaves. We held our way over 
the distant eminences, and at length found a spring by which 
we encamped, at a rather late hour. It had been a hazy and 
smoky day, like the Indian summer in Atlantic latitudes. We 
were in a region teeming with the deer and elk, which fre- 
quently bounded across our path. The crack of Roberts's 
rifle, also, added to the animation of the day's travel ; though 
we might have known, from his unsteady bandit-eye, that he 
meditated something to our damage. 



5 * 



CHAPTER IV. 

HORSES ELOPE — DESERTION OP OUR GUIDE — ENCAMP ON ONE OP 
THE SOURCES OF BLACK RIVER — HEAD- WATERS OF THE RIVER 
CURRENTS — ENTER A ROMANTIC SUB-VALLEY — SALTPETRE CAVES 
— DESCRIPTION OF ASHLEY's CAVE — ENCAMPMENT THERE — 
ENTER AN ELEVATED SUMMIT — CALAMARCA, AN UNKNOWN 

STREAM ENCOUNTER FOUR BEARS — NORTH FORK OF WHITE 

RIVER. 

Nov. 10th. "While we laid on our pallets last night, the 
trampling of hoofs was frequently heard ; but at length the 
practised ear of the hunter detected that these were the sounds 
of wild animals' hoofs, and not of our horses. This man's eye 
had shown an unwonted degree of restlessness and uneasiness 
during the afternoon of the preceding day, while witnessing 
the abundant signs of deer and elk in the country ; but this 
excited no suspicions. He was restless during the night, and 
was disturbed at a very early hour, long before light, by this 
trampling of animals. These sounds, he said to me, did not 
proceed from the horses, which were hobbled. He got up, and 
found both animals missing. Butcher's memory of corn and 
corn-fodder, at his old master's at Potosi, had not yet deserted 
him, and he carried the hunter's horse along with him. I 
immediately jumped up, and accompanied him in their pursuit. 
There was some moonlight, with clouds rapidly passing. We 
pursued our back-track, anxiously looking from every eminence, 
and stopping to listen for the sound of the bells. Roberts 
occasionally took up a handful of leaves, which were thickly 
strewn around, and held them up in the moonlight, to see whe- 
ther the corks of the horses' shoes had not penetrated them. 
When he finally found this sign, he was sure we were in the 

(54) 



DESERTION OF OUR GUIDE. 55 

right way. At length, when we had gone several miles, and 
reached an eminence that overlooked the broad plain of the 
Valley of Leaves, we plainly descried the fugitives, jumping 
on as fast as possible on the way back. We soon overhauled 
them, and brought them to camp by daybreak, before my com- 
panion had yet awaked. 

Roberts now sallied out, and in a few minutes fired at and 
killed a fat doe, which he brought in, and we made a break- 
fast by roasting steaks. Roberts had expressed no dissatisfac- 
tion or desire to return, but, sallying out again among the deer 
on horseback, said he would rejoin us presently, at a future 
point. We travelled on, expecting at every turn to see him 
reappear. But we saw no more of him. The rascal had not 
only deserted us at a difficult point, but he carried oif my best 
new hunting-knife — a loss not to be repaired in such a place. 

We at length came to a point where the trail forked. This 
put us to a stand. Which to take, we knew not ; and the 
result was of immense consequence to our journey, as we after- 
wards found ; for, had we taken the right-hand fork, we should 
have been conducted in a more direct line to the portions of 
country we sought to explore. We took the left-hand fork, 
which we followed diligently, crossing several streams running 
to the north-west, which were probably tributary to the Mis- 
souri through the Gasconade. It was after dark before we 
came to a spot having the requisites for an encampment, par- 
ticularly water. It was an opening on the margin of a small 
• lake, having an outlet south-east, which we finally determined 
to be either one of the sources of the Black river, or of the 
river Currents. 

We had now travelled about twenty miles from our last 
camp, in a southerly direction. We did not entirely relinquish 
the idea of being rejoined by Roberts, nor become fully satis- 
fied of his treachery, till late in the evening. We had relied 
on his guidance till we should be able to reach some hunters' 
camps on the White or Arkansas rivers ; but this idea was 
henceforth abandoned. Left thus, on the commencement of 
our journey, in the wilderness, without a guide or hunter, we 
were consigned to a doubtful fate ; our extrication from which 



66 CURRENTS RIVER — LOSE THE TRAIL. 

depended wholly upon a decision and self-reliance, which he 
only knows how to value, who is first called to grapple with 
the hardships of western life. 

It was the edge of a prairie where we had halted. Wood 
was rather scarce ; hut we made shift to build a good fire, and 
went to sleep with no object near us, to excite sympathy, but 
our horse, who was securely belled and tethered. When we 
awoke in the morning, the fire was out, and a pack of wolves 
were howling within a few hundred yards of our camp. Whether 
the horse feared them, I know not ; but he had taken his posi- 
tion near the embers of the fire, where he stood quite still. 

Nov. 11th. In passing two miles, we crossed a small stream 
running south-east, which evidently had its source in the little 
lake at our last night's encampment. The trail beyond this 
was often faint ; in the course of eight or ten miles, we began 
to ascend elevations covered with pines, but of so sterile and 
hard a soil, that we lost all trace of it. We wound about 
among these desolate pine ridges a mile or two, till, from 
one of the higher points, we descried a river in a deep valley, 
having a dense forest of hard wood, and every indication of 
animal life. Overjoyed at this, we mended our pace, and, by 
dint of great caution, led our pack-horse into it. It proved 
to be the river Currents, a fine stream, with fertile banks, and 
clear sparkling waters. The grey-squirrel was seen sporting 
on its shady margin, and, as night approached, the wild turkey 
came in from the plains to drink, and make its nightly abode. ' 
After fording the river, we soon found our lost trail, which we 
followed a while up the stream, then across a high ridge which 
constituted its southern banks, and through dense thickets to 
the summits of a narrow, deep, and dark limestone valley, 
which appeared to be an abyss. Daylight left us as we wound 
down a gorge into its dreary precincts ; and we no sooner 
found it traversed by a clear brook, than we determined to 
encamp. As the fire flashed up, it revealed on either side 
steep and frowning clifls, which might gratify the wildest spirit 
of romance. This stream, with its impending cavernous clifis, 
I designated the Wall-cave or Ononda valley. 



WALL-CAVE VALLEY. 57 

We had advanced this day about eighteen or twenty miles. 
We had an opportunity, while on the skirts of the high prairie 
lands, to fire at some elk, and to observe their stately motions ; 
but, being still supplied with venison, we were not willing to 
waste the time in pursuing them. Our course varied from 
south to south-west. 

Nov. 12th. Daylight fully revealed our position. We were 
in a valley, often not more than six hundred feet wide, with 
walls of high precipitous limestone rock. These cliffs were 
remarkable for nothing so much as their caverns, seated uni- 
formly at a height of forty or fifty feet above the ground, in 
inaccessible positions. I do not know the number of these 
caves, as we did not count them ; but they existed on either 
side of the valley as far as we explored it. Most of them 
were too high to reach. A tree had fallen against the cliff 
near one of them, by climbing which I reached a small ledge 
of the rock that afforded a little footing, and, by cautiously 
groping along, the orifice was finally reached and entered. It 
proved interesting, although of no great extent ; but it con- 
tained stalactites depending in clusters from the walls. Of 
these, I secured a number which were translucent. Slender 
crystals of nitrate of potash, of perfect whiteness and crystal- 
line beauty, were found in some of the crevices. Having 
secured specimens of these, I again got out on the ledge of 
rock, and, reaching the tree, descended in safety. 

About half a mile higher up the valley, on its south side, 
we discovered a cavern of gigantic dimensions. The opening 
in the face of the rock appeared to be about eighty or ninety 
feet wide, and about thirty high. A projection of rock on one 
side enabled us to enter it. A vast and gloomy rotundo 
opened before us. It very soon, after the entry, increases in 
height to sixty or seventy feet, and in width to one hundred 
and fifty or two hundred feet, forming an immense hall. This 
hall has another opening or corridor, leading to a precipitous 
part of the cliff. It extends into the rock, southerly, an un- 
explored distance, branching off in lateral avenues from the 
main trunk. We explored the main gallery five or six hun- 



58 ASHLEY'S CAVE. 

dred yards, when we found obstructions. The roof has been 
blackened by the carbonaceous effect of fires, kindled by 
Indians or white men, who have visited it, in former years, in 
search of nitrous earth. In some parts of it, compact bodies 
of pebbles and reddish clay, very similar to that found on the 
cliffs, are seen, which creates an idea that the cavern must 
have been an open orifice at the geological era of the diluvial 
deposits. This earth, by being lixiviated with common house- 
ashes, produces a liquid which, on evaporation, yields saltpetre. 
The cave, I was informed at Potosi, has been visited for this 
purpose by Colonel Ashley, and it appropriately bears his 
name. Finding it a perfect " rock-house," and being dry, and 
affording advantages for some necessary repairs to our gear, 
and arrangements for the further continuation of our explora- 
tions, we, about four o'clock in the afternoon, removed our 
camp up the valley, and encamped within it. We could shelter 
ourselves completely in its capacious chambers in case of rain, 
of which there were indications, and take a calm view of the 
course it seemed now expedient to pursue. Thus far, we had 
had a trail, however slight, to follow ; but from this point there 
was none — we were to plunge into the pathless woods, and to 
trust ourselves alone to the compass, and the best judgment 
"we could form of courses, distances, and probabilities. A 
wilderness lay before us, behind us, and around us. We had 
*' taken our lives in our hands," and we were well satisfied that 
our success must depend on our vigilance, energy, and deter- 
mination. In addition to the exertion of providing food, and 
repairing our clothing, which, as we urged our way, was pay- 
ing tribute to every sharp bush we pressed through, we had to 
exercise a constant vigilance to prevent Indian surprises ; for 
experience had already taught us that, in the wilderness, where 
there is no law to impose restraint but the moral law of the 
heart, man is the greatest enemy of man. 

Nov. 13th. The threatening appearance of the atmosphere 
induced us to remain most of the day in our rock-house, which 
was devoted to devising a more safe and compact mode of car- 
rying specimens, to repairs of our pack-saddles, a reconstruc- 



A RAINY DAY — JOURNEY RESUMED. 59 

tion of the mode of packing, &c. We then made a further 
reconnoissance of the cavern, and its vicinity and productions. 
I had paid particular attention to the subject of the occurrence 
of animal bones in our western caves, as those of Europe had 
recently excited attention ; but never found any, in a single 
instance, except the species of existing weasels, and other very 
small quadrupeds, which are to be traced about these castel- 
lated and cavernous cliffs. As evening approached, a flock of 
turkeys, coming in from the plain to the top of the cliflf above 
the cavern, flew down on to the trees directly in front of us, 
sheltered as we were from their sight, and afforded a fine 
opportunity for the exercise of our sportsmanship. 

Nov. 14th. The rain which had threatened to fall yester- 
day, poured down this morning, and continued with more or 
less violence all day. Our packages, clothing, arms and ac- 
coutrements, were thoroughly overhauled and examined. We 
had still supplies of everything essential to our comfort. Our 
bacon had not been seriously trenched on, while the forest had 
amply supplied us with venison, and our groceries bade fair to 
last us till we should strike some of the main southern streams, 
or till our increasing powers of endurance and forest skill 
should enable us to do without them. 

Nov. 15th. This morning, the sky being clear and bright, 
we left our rock abode in the Wall-cave valley. We ascended 
this valley a short distance, but, as it led us too far west, and 
the brush proved so thick as to retard our progress, we soon left 
it. With some ado, the horse was led to the top of the cliff". 
A number of lateral valleys, covered with thick brush, made 
this a labor by no means light. The surface of the ground 
was rough, vegetation sere and dry, and every thicket which 
spread before us presented an obstacle which was to be over- 
come. We could have penetrated many of these, which the 
horse could not be forced through. Such parts of our clothing 
as did not consist of buckskin, paid frequent tribute to these 
brambles. 

At length we got clear of these spurs, and entered on a 



60 MONOTONOUS COUNTRY. 

high tahle-land, where travelling became comparatively easy. 
The first view of this vista of highland plains was magnificent. 
It was covered with moderate-sized sere grass and dry seed- 
pods, which rustled as we passed. There was scarcely an 
object deserving the name of a tree, except now and then a 
solitary trunk of' a dead pine or oak, which had been scathed 
by the lightning. The bleached bones of an elk, a deer, or a 
bison, were sometimes met. Occasionally we passed a copse 
of oak, or cluster of saplings. The deer often bounded before 
us, and we sometimes disturbed the hare from its sheltering 
bush, or put to flight the quail and the prairie-hen. There 
was no prominent feature in the distance for the eye to rest on. 
The unvaried prospect at length produced satiety. We felt, in 
a peculiar manner, the solitariness of the wilderness. We 
travelled silently and diligently. It was a dry and wave-like 
prairie. From morning till sunset, we did not encounter a 
drop of water. This became the absorbing object. Hill after 
hill, and vale after vale, were patiently ascended, and dili- 
gently footed, without bringing the expected boon. At last 
we came, suddenly and unexpectedly, to a small running 
stream in the plain, where we gladly encamped. I quickly 
struck up a cheerful fire, and we soon had a cup of tea with 
our evening's repast. Nor was Butcher neglected. There 
was a patch of short green grass on the margin of the brook, 
to which he did ample justice. We were not long after supper 
in yielding ourselves to a sound sleep. 

While we were in the act of encamping, I had placed my 
powder-flask on the ground, and, on lighting the fire, neglected 
to remove it. As the plain was covered with dry leaves, they 
soon took fire, and burned over a considerable space, including 
thf spot occupied by myself and the flask. The latter was a 
brass-mounted shooting-flask, of translucent horn, having a 
flaw through which grains of powder sometimes escaped. Yet 
no. explosion took place. I looked and beheld the flask, which 
the fire had thus run over, very near me, with amazement. 

Nov. 16th. We were now on an elevated summit of table- 
land or water-shed, ■which threw its waters ofi" alternately to 



CALAMARCA. 61 

the Missouri and Mississippi. It was covered vrith high, 
coarse, prairie grass, and its occasional nodding clusters of 
prairie flowers run to seed. In depressed places, the greenbriar 
occasionally became entangled with the horse's feet, and 
required time to extricate him. We very frequently passed 
the head and thigh-bones of the buifalo, proving that the ani- 
mal had been freely hunted on these plains. In the course of 
about eight miles' travel, we passed two small streams running 
to the north-west, which led us to think that we were diverging 
too far towards the Missouri side of this vast highland plateau. 
It was still some hours to sunset, and we had gone about four 
miles farther when we reached a large, broad stream, also 
flowing towards the north-west. It had a rapid and deep cur- 
rent, on each side of which was a wide space of shallow water, 
and boulders of limestone and sandstone. It required some 
skill to cross this river, as it was too deep to ford. The horse 
was led into the edge of the stream and driven over, coming 
out with his pack safely on the other side. The shallow parts 
ofiered no obstacle ; and we bridged the deeper portion of the 
channel with limbs and trunks of trees, Avhich had been brought 
down by the stream when in flood and left upon its banks, and, 
being denuded of their bark, were light and dry, and as white 
as bleached bones. 

I had crossed the channel safely, after my companion ; but 
he disturbed the bridge on stepping from it, and caused me to 
slip from the stick. Having my gun in my right hand, I natu- 
rally extended it, to break my fall. Each end of it, as it 
reached the stream, rested on a stone, and, my whole weight 
being in the centre, the barrel was slightly sprung. This bridge, 
for the purpose of reference, I called Galamarca. After cross- 
ing the stream, we came to a stand, and, on consultation, 
explored it downward, to determine its general course ; but, 
finding it to incline toward the north-west, we returned up its 
southern bank two or three miles above our rustic bridge, and 
encamped. 

Nov. 17th. In the morning we proceeded in a south-south- 
westerly direction, which, after keeping up the valley from the 



62 ENCOUNTEK WITH BEARS. 

camp of Calamarca for a few miles, carried us up an elevated 
range of hills, covered with large oaks bearing acorns. We 
had reached the top of a ridge which commanded a view of a 
valley beyond it, when we observed, far below us in the valley, 
four bears on an oak, eating sWeet acorns. The descent was 
steep and rough, with loose stones, which made it impossible to 
lead the horse down without disturbing them. We therefore 
tied him to a staddle, and, after looking to our priming, we 
began to descend the height. But, as the leaves had all fallen, 
concealment was impossible ; and when the animals became 
alarmed, and began to come down the tree, we ran at our 
utmost speed to reach its foot first. In this effort, my compa- 
nion fell on the loose stones, and sprained his ankle ; I kept 
on, but did not reach the foot of the tree in time to prevent 
their escape, and I followed them some distance. When my 
companion's absence led me back to him, I found him badly 
hurt; he limped along with the utmost difficulty. I soon 
mounted him on the pack-horse, and led up the little valley ; 
but the pain of his ankle became so intense, that he could not 
bear the motion, and, after proceeding a mile or two, we deter- 
mined to halt and encamp. We had not travelled from our 
morning's encampment more than five or six miles. I accord- 
ingly unpacked the horse, prepared a pallet for my companion, 
and built a fire. I then bathed his ankle with salt and warm 
water. This done, I took my gun, and sauntered along the 
thickets in the hope of starting some game. Nothing, how- 
ever, was found. The shrill and unmusical cry of the blue- 
jay, which was the largest bird I saw, reminded me of other 
latitudes. Thoughtful, and full of apprehension at this un- 
toward accident, I returned to our little camp, and diligently 
renewed my antalgic applications. 

Nov. 18th. A night's rest, and the little remedies in my 
power to employ, had so far abated the pain of my companion's 
ankle, that he again consented to mount the pack-horse, and 
we pursued our way up the little valley in which we had en- 
camped. We had not, however, travelled far, when we saw 
two large black bears playing in the grass before us, and so 



BEAR-HUNT. 63 

intently engaged in their sport that they did not observe us. 
My companion, with my aid, quickly dismounted. We exa- 
mined our arms, tied the horse, and, having determined to fire 
together, had reached our several stations before the animals 
noticed our approach. They at first ran a few yards, but then 
turned and sat up in the high, sere grass, to see what had dis- 
turbed them. We fired at the same moment, each having 
singled out his mark. Both animals fled, but on reaching the 
spot where the one I fired at had sat, blood was copiously 
found on the grass. I pursued him and his mate over an ad- 
joining ridge, where I lost sight of them ; but discovering, on 
crossing the ridge, a hollow oak, into which I judged they had 
crept, I went back for the axe to fell it. While engaged at 
this, my companion hobbled up, and relieved me at the axe. 
The tree at length came down with a thundering crash, par- 
tially splitting in its fall, and I stood ready with my gun to 
receive the discomfited inmates ; but, after gazing intently for 
a time, none appeared. It was now evident they had eluded 
us, and that we had lost the track. The excitement had almost 
cured my companion's lameness ; but it returned when the 
pursuit was over, and, resuming his position on the horse, we 
proceeded over a succession of high, oak-covered ridges. In 
crossing one of these, a large and stately elk offered another 
object for our notice. He had an enormous pair of horns, 
which it seemed he must find it diflicult to balance in browsing ; 
but the moment he became aware of our propinquity, he lifted 
his head, and, throwing back the antlers, they seemed to form 
shields for his shoulders and sides while plunging forward 
through the thickets. We stood a moment to admire his 
splendid leaps. 

These incidents had carried us a few miles out of our course. 
We were on high broken summits, which resembled, in their 
surface, what may be conceived of the tossing waves of a sea 
suddenly congealed. On descending from these towards the 
south, we came to clumps of bushes, with gravelly areas be- 
tween, and an occasional standing pool of pure water. It was 
very evident to our minds, as we advanced, that these pools 
must communicate with each other through the gravel, and 



64 WHITE RIVER. 

that there were seasons when there was more water washed 
from the hills. On following down this formation about six 
miles, the connection became more evident, and the sources of 
an important river developed themselves. We were, in fact, 
on the extreme head-waters of the Great North Fork of White 
river ; the Unica of the Cherokees, and the Riviere au Blanc 
of the French. The manner in which the waters develope 
themselves on descending the southern slope of these highlands, 
is remarkable. Thej proceed in plateaux or steps, on each of 
which the stream deploys in a kind of lake, or elongated basin, 
connected with the next succeeding one by a narrow rapid. 
The rock is a grey sandstone in the lower situations, capped 
with limestone. In some places the water wholly disappears, 
and seems to permeate the rock. We came to a place where 
the river, being some four feet deep, is entirely absorbed by 
the rock, and does not again appear till a mile below, where it 
suddenly issues from the rock, in its original volume. 



CHAPTER V. 

DESCEND THE VALLEY — ITS DIFFICULTIES — HORSE ROLLS DOWN 
A PRECIPICE — PURITY OF THE WATER — ACCIDENT CAUSED 

THEREBY — ELKHORN SPRING TOWER CREEK — HORSE PLUNGES 

OVER HIS DEPTH IN FORDING, AND DESTROYS WHATEVER IS 
DELIQUESCENT IN HIS PACK — ABSENCE OP ANTIQUITIES, OR 
EVIDENCES OF ANCIENT HABITATION — A REMARKABLE CAVERN 
— PINCHED FOR FOOD — OLD INDIAN LODGES — THE BEAVER — A 
DESERTED PIONEER' S CAMP — INCIDENT OF THE PUMPKIN. 

Nov. 19th. Daylight put us in motion. It was determined 
to follow the valley down in its involutions, which led us, gene- 
rally, south. We passed over some fertile, heavily timbered 
bottoms, where I observed the elm, oak, beech, maple, ash, and 
sycamore. We had not left our camp more than a mile, when 
we came to the first appearance of the C. arundinacea, or cane, 
and we soon after reached the locality of the greenbriar. Tra- 
velling in these rich forests is attended with great fatigue and 
exertion from the underbrush, particularly from the thick 
growth of cane and greenbriar; the latter of which often binds 
masses of the fields of cane together, and makes it next to 
impossible to force a horse through the matted vegetation. 
Our horse, indeed, while he relieved us from the burden of car- 
rying packs, became the greatest impediment to our getting 
forward, while in this valley. To find an easier path, we took 
one of the summit ranges of the valley. But a horse, it seems, 
must have no climbing to do, when he is under a pack-saddle. 
We had not gone far on this ridge, when the animal slipped, or 
stumbled. The impetus of his load was more than he could 
resist. The declivity was steep, but not precipitous. He 
rolled over and over ^or perhaps two hundred feet, until he 
reached the foot of the ridge. We looked with dismay as he 
6 * E (65) 



66 ACCIDENT TO THE HORSE. 

"went, and thought that every bone in his body must have been 
broken. When we reached him, however, he was not dead, 
but, with our aid, got up. How he escaped we could not 
divine, but he looked pleased when he saw us come to his relief, 
and busy ourselves in extricating him. We unloosed his pack, 
and did all we could to restore him. We could not find any 
outward bruise ; there was no cut, and no blood was started. 
Even a horse loves sympathy. After a time, we repacked 
him, and slowly continued our route. The delay caused by 
this accident, made this a short day's journey ; we did not 
suppose ourselves to have advanced, in a direct line, over 
twelve miles. The valley is very serpentine, redoubling on 
itself. 

Nov. 20th. We found the stream made up entirely of pure 
springs, gushing from the gravel, or rocks. Nothing can 
exceed the crystal purity of its waters. These springs are 
often very large. We came to one, in the course of this day, 
which we judged to be fifty feet wide. It rushes out of an 
aperture in the rock, and joins the main branch of the river 
about six hundred yards below, in a volume quite equal to that 
of the main fork. I found an enormous pair of elk's horns 
lying on one side of the spring, which I lifted up and hung in 
the forks of a young oak, and from this incident named it the 
Elkhorn Spring. 

In forcing my way through the rank vines, weeds, and brush, 
which encumber the valley below this point, I lost my small 
farrier's hammer from my belt ; a loss which was irreparable, 
as it was the only means we had of setting a shoe on our horse, 
and had also served on ordinary occasions as a mineral-ham- 
mer, instead of the heavier implement in the pack. 

We often disturbed the black bear from his lair in the thick 
canebrakes, but travelled with too much noise to overtake him. 
The deer frequently bounded across the valley, while turkey, 
squirrel, duck, and smaller game, were also abundant. 

Nov. 21st. The bottom-lands contftiued to improve in ex- 
tent and fertility as we descended. The stream, as it wears 



PROVOKING OCCURRENCE. 6T 

its way into deeper levels of the stratification of the country, 
presents, on either side, high cliffs of rock. These cliffs, which 
consist of horizontal limestone, resting on sandstone, frequently 
present prominent pinnacles, resembling ruinous castellated 
walls. In some places they rise to an astonishing height, and 
they are uniformly crowned with yellow pines. A remarkable 
formation of this description appeared to-day, at the entrance 
of a tributary stream through these walled cliffs, on the left 
bank, which I called Tower Creek ; it impressed one with the 
idea of the high walls of a ruined battlement. 

The purity and transparency of the water are so remarka- 
ble, that it is often diflficult to estimate its depth in the river. 
A striking instance of this occurred after passing this point. I 
was leading the horse. In crossing from the east to the west 
bank, I had led Butcher to a spot which I thought he could 
easily ford, without reaching above his knees. He plunged in, 
however, over his depth, and, swimming across with his pack, 
came to elevated shores on the other side, which kept him so 
long in the water, and we were detained so long in searching 
for a suitable point for him to mount, that almost everything 
of a soluble character in his pack was either lost or damaged. 
Our salt and sugar were mostly spoiled ; our tea and Indian 
meal damaged ; our skins, blankets, and clothing, saturated. 
This mishap caused us a world of trouble. Though early in 
the day, we at once encamped. I immediately built a fire, the 
horse was speedily unpacked, and each particular article was 
examined, and such as permitted it, carefully dried. This 
labor occupied us till a late hour in the night. 

Nov. 22d. Up to this point we had seen no Osages, of 
whose predatory acts we had heard so much at Potosi, and on 
the sources of the Maramec ; nor any signs of their having 
been in this section of the country during a twelvemonth, cer- 
tainly not since spring. All the deserted camps, and the 
evidences of encampment, were old. The bones of animals 
eaten, found on the high plains east of Calamarca, and at 
the Elkhorn spring, were bleached and dry. Not a vestige 
had appeared, since leaving the Wall-cliffs, of a human being 



68 A NIGHT IN A CAVE. 

having recently visited the country. The silence and desolate- 
ness of the wilderness reigned around. And when we looked 
for evidences of an ancient permanent occupation of the region 
by man, there were none — not a hillock raised by human 
hands, nor the smallest object that could be deemed antiqua- 
rian. The only evidences of ancient action were those of a 
geological kind — caverns, valleys of denudation, beds of drift, 
boulders, water-lines and markings on the faces of cliflfs, which 
betokened oceanic overflow at very antique or primary periods. 

The difficulties attending our progress down the valley, 
induced us to strike out into the open prairie, where travelling 
was free, and unimpeded by shrubbery or vines. Nothing but 
illimitable fields of grass, Avith clumps of trees here and there, 
met the eye. We travelled steadily, without diverging to the 
right or left. AYe sometimes disturbed covies of prairie birds; 
the rabbit started from his sheltering bush, or the deer enli- 
vened the prospect. We had laid our course south-south-west, 
and travelled about twenty miles. As evening approached, 
we searched in vain for water, to encamp. In quest of it, we 
finally entered a desolate gorge, which seemed, at some sea- 
sons, to have been traversed by floods, as it disclosed boulders 
and piles of rubbish. Daylight departed as we wound our way 
down this dry gorge, which was found to be flanked, as we 
descended, with towering cliffs. In the meantime, the heavens 
became overcast Avith dense black clouds, and rain soon began 
to fall. We scanned these lofty clifis closely, as we were in a 
cavernous limestone country, for evidences of some practicable 
opening which might give us shelter for the night. At length, 
after daylight had gone, the dark mouth of a large cavern 
appeared on oui' left, at some twenty or thirty feet elevation. 
The horse could not be led up this steep, but, by unpacking 
him, we carried the baggage up, and then hobbled and belled 
the poor beast, and left him to pick a meal as best "he could in 
this desolate valley. It was the best, and indeed the only 
thing, we could do for him. 

It was not long before I had a fire in the cave, which threw 
its red rays upon the outlines of the cavern, in a manner which 
would have formed a study for Michael Angelo. It seemed 



CAVE OF TULA. 69 

that internal •waters had flowed out of this cavern for ages, 
carrying particle by particle of the yielding rock, by which 
vast masses had been scooped out, or hung still in threatening 
pendants. Its width was some forty feet, its height perhaps 
double that space, and its depth illimitable. A small stream 
of pure water glided along its bottom, and went trickling down 
the cliff. 

The accident in crossing the stream had saturated, but not 
ruined our tea ; and we soon had an infusion of it, to accom- 
pany our evening's frugal repast — for frugal indeed it became, 
in meats and bread, after our irreparable loss of the day pre- 
vious. Nothing is more refreshing than a draught of tea in 
the wilderness, and one soon experiences that this effect is due 
neither to milk nor sugar. The next thing to be done after 
supper, was to light a torch and explore the recesses of the 
cave, lest it should be occupied by some carnivorous beasts, 
who might fancy a sleeping traveller for a night's meal. Sally- 
ing into its dark recesses, gun and torch in hand, we passed 
up a steep ascent, which made it difficult to keep our feet. 
This passage, at first, turned to the right, then narrowed, and 
finally terminated in a low gallery, growing smaller and smaller 
towards its apparent close. This passage became too low to 
admit walking, but by the light of our torch, which threw its 
rays far into its recesses, there appeared no possibility of our 
proceeding further. We then retraced our steps to our fire in 
the front of the cave, where there were evidences of Indian 
camp-fires. We then replenished our fire with fuel, and spread 
down our pallets for the night. My companion soon adjusted 
himself in a concave part of the rock, and went to sleep. I 
looked out from the front of the cave to endeavor to see the 
horse ; but although I caught a sound of his bell, nothing 
could be seen but intense darkness. The rain had been slight, 
and had abated ; but the cliffs in front, and' the clouds above 
the narrow valley, rendered it impossible to see anything 
beyond the reach of the flickering rays of our fire. To its 
precincts I returned, and entered up my journal of the events 
of the day. Our situation, and the peculiarities of the scenery 
around us, led me to reflect on that mysterious fate which, in 



70 INSPIRED BY THE MUSE. 

every hazard, attends human actions, and, by the light of the 
fire, I pencilled the anne'xed lines, and clapt down the cavern 
in my journal as the Cave of Tula.* 

LINES WRITTEN IN A CAVE IN THE WILDERNESS OF ARKANSAS. 

! thou, who, clothed in magic spell, 
Delight'st in lonely wilds to dwell, 
Resting in rift, or wrapped in air, 
Remote from mortal ken, or care : 
Genius of caverns drear and wild, 
Hear a suppliant wandering child — 
One, who nor a wanton calls, 
Or intruder in thy walls : 
One, who spills not on the plain, 
Blood for sport, or worldly gain, 
Like his red barbarian kin. 
Deep in murder — foul in sin ; 
Or, with high, horrific yells. 
Rends thy dark and silent cells ; 
But, a devious traveller nigh. 
Weary, hungry, parched, and dry ; 
One, who seeks thy shelter blest, 
Not to riot, but to rest. 

Grant me, from thy crystal rill, 

Oft my glittering cup to fill ; 

Let thy dwelling, rude and high, 

Make my nightly canopy. 

And, by superhuman walls. 

Ward the dew that nightly fulls. 

Guard me from the ills that creep 

On the houseless traveller's sleep — 

From the ravenous panther's spring, 

From the scorpion's poisoned sting, ' 

From the serpent — reptile curst — 

And the Indian's midnight thrust. 

Grant me this, aerial sprite, 

And a balmy rest by night, 

Blest by visions of delight ! 

Let me dream of friendship true, 

And that human ills are few ; 

Let me dream that boyhood's schemes 

Are not, what I've found them, dreams; 

*De Soto. 



RETURN TO THE NORTH FORK. 71 

And his hopes, however gay, 
Have not flitted fast away. 
Let me dream, I ne'er have felt, 
Ease that pleases, joys that melt; 
Or that I shall ever find 
Honor fair, or fortune kind ; 
Dream that time shall sweetly fling. 
In my path, perpetual spring. 
Let me dream my bosom never 
Felt the pang from friends to sever; 
Or that life is not replete, 
Or with loss, pain, wo, deceit. 
Let me dream, misfortune's smart 
Ne'er hath wrung my bleeding heart ; 
Nor its potent, galling sway, 
Forced me far, ! far away ; 
Let me dream it — for I know, 
When I wake, it is not so!* 

Nov. 23d. My first care this morning was to find Butcher, 
who had been left, last night, with a sorry prospect. He was 
not to be found. I followed our back track to the plains, 
whither he had gone for his night's meal. By the time I 
returned with him, the forenoon was wellnigh gone. We then 
travelled to the south-east. This brought us, in due time, 
again into the valley of the North Fork. We found it less 
encumbered with vines and thickets, and very much widened 
in its expansion between blufi" and bluff. We forded it, and 
found, on its eastern margin, extensive open oak plains. On 
one of the most conspicuous trees were marks and letters, 
which proved that it had been visited and singled out for settle- 
ment by some enterprising pioneer. From the open character 
of the country, we could not get near to large game ; and we 
now found that our supply of ball and shot was near its close. 
We passed down the valley about ten miles, and encamped. 
Since the loss of our corn-meal, we had had nothing in the 
shape of bread, and our provisions were now reduced to a very 
small quantity of dried meat. We had expected, for some 

* These lines were published in the Belles-Lettres Repository in 1821, 
and shortly after, with a commendation, in the New York Statesman. 



72 SCARCITY OF FOOD. 

days, to have reached either Indian or vrhite hunters' camps. 
Our anxiety on this head now became intense. Prudence , 
required, however, that, small as our stores were, they should 
be divided with strict reference to the probability of our not 
meeting with hunters, or getting relief, for two or three days. 

Nov. 24th. The stick frames, without bark, of several 
Indian lodges, were passed to-day, denoting that they had not 
been recently occupied. Travelling down the opposite side 
of the vale from that taken by my companion, who had charge 
of the horse, I came to a point on the bank of the river, where > 
I discovered two grown beavers sporting in the stream. The 
tail of this animal, which appears clumsy and unwieldy in the 
dead specimen, gives the animal a graceful appearance in the 
water, where it makes him appear to have a very elongated 
body. After diving about for some time, they came to the 
shore, and sat in front of their wauzh, as it is termed by the 
Algonquins, or lodge, which in this case was a fissure in the 
rock. I was perfectly screened by a point of the rock from 
their view, and sat with my gun cocked, reserving my fire, a 
few moments, the more perfectly to observe them, when both 
animals, at the same instant, darted into their holes. 

Under the influence of a keen appetite, and a tolerably open 
forest, we pressed on, this day, about fifteen miles ; the horse 
being, as usual, our chief hindrance. 

Nov. 25th. I took the horse's bridle over my arm this 
morning, and had proceeded through open woods about ten 
miles, when we descried, from a little summit, a hut in the 
distance, which had some traits of the labor of white men. 
This gave animation to our steps, in the hope of finding it 
occupied. But, as we approached, we could discern no smoke 
rising up as the sign of occupancy, and were disappointed to 
find it an abortive effort of some pioneer, and, at the moment, 
called it Camp No. We afterwards learned that it had 
been constructed by one Martin, who, as there was not a foot 
of land in cultivation, had probably aimed to subsist by the 
chase alone. The location was well chosen. A large cane- 



INCIDENT OF THE PUMPKIN. 73 

brake flanked the river, suflBcient to give range to horses and 
cattle. A little tributary stream bounded a fertile piece of 
upland, east of this. The hut was built of puncheons, sup- 
ported on one side by a rude ridge-pole, leaving the front of it 
open, forming a shed which had a roof and floor. But the 
stream had now dried up. We found a plant of cotton, boiled 
out, among the adjacent weeds, which proved the soil and 
climate suitable to its culture. We were now well within the 
probable limits of Arkansas. 

It was determined to encamp at this spot, turn the horse 
into the adjacent canebrake, where the leaves were green, to 
deposit our baggage and camp apparatus in one corner of the 
hut, and, after making light packs, to take our arms, and pro- 
ceed in search of settlements. This required a little time. 
To reach a point where civilization had once tried to get a 
foothold, however, was something ; and we consoled ourselves 
with the reflection that we could not be remote from its skirts. 

The next day (26th) I made an excursion west of the river, 
from our position, about five miles, to determine satisfactorily 
our situation. I found, on the opposite side of the valley, a 
little higher up, at the foot of the clifi", another small (white 
man's) hut, which had also been abandoned. In a small patch 
of ground, Avhich had once been cleared, there grew a pumpkin 
vine, which then had three pumpkins. This was a treasure, 
which I at once secured. I found that one of them had been 
partially eaten by some wild animal, and determined to give it 
to my horse, but could not resist the inclination first to cut off 
a few slices, which I ate raw with the greatest appetite. The 
taste seemed delicious. I had not before been aware that my 
appetite had become so keen by fasting ; for we had had but 
little to eat for many days. Between the horse and myself, 
we finished it, and had quite a sociable time of it. With the 
other two, which were the largest, I rode back to camp, where, 
having a small camp-kettle, we boiled and despatched them, 
without meat or bread, for supper. It does not require much 
to make one happy ; for, in this instance, our little luck put us 
in the best of humor. 
7 



CHAPTER VI. 

ABANDON OUR CAMP AND HORSE IN SEARCH OF SETTLEMENTS — 
INCIDENTS OF THE FIRST DAY — HEAR A SHOT — CAMP IN AN 
OLD INDIAN LODGE — ACORNS FOR SUPPER — KILL A WOODPECKER 

INCIDENTS OF THE SECOND DAY — STERILE RIDGES — WANT OP 

WATER — CAMP AT NIGHT IN A DEEP GORGE — INCIDENTS OF THE 
THIRD DAY — FIND A HORSE-PATH, AND PURSUE IT — DISCOVER 
A MAN ON HORSEBACK — REACH A HUNTER's CABIN — INCIDENTS 
THERE — HE CONDUCTS US BACK TO OUR OLD CAMP — DESERTED 
THERE WITHOUT PROVISIONS — DEPLORABLE STATE — SHIFTS — 
TAKING OF A TURKEY. 

Nov. 27th. Action is the price of safety in the woods. 
Neither dreams nor poetic visions kept us on our pallets a mo- 
ment longer than it was light enough to see the grey tints of 
morning. Each of us prepared a compact knapsack, contain- 
ing a blanket and a few absolute necessaries, and gave our 
belts an extra jerk before lifting our guns to our shoulders ; 
then, secretly wishing our friend Butcher a good time in the 
canebrake, we set out with a light pace towards the south. 
My companion Bonee* was much attached to tea, and, as the 
article of a small tin pot was indispensable to the enjoyment 
of this beverage, he burthened himself with this appendage by 
strapping it on his back with a green sash. This was not a 
very military sort of accoutrement ; but as he did not pride 
himself in that way, and had not, in fact, the least notion of 
the ridiculous figure he cut with it, I was alone in my unex- 
pressed sense of the Fridayishness of his looks on the march, 
day by day, across the prairies and through the woods, with this 
not very glittering culinary appendage dangling at his back. 

* Elision of Pettibone. 

(74) 



A DISAPPOINTMENT. 75 

Hope gave animation to our steps. We struck out from the 
valley southerly, which brought us to an elevated open tract, 
partially wooded, in which the walking was good. After tra- 
velling about six miles, we heard the report of a gun on our 
left. Supposing it to proceed from some white hunter, we tried 
to get into communication with him, and hallooed stoutly. 
This was answered. I withdrew the ball from my gun, and 
fired. We then followed the course of the shot and halloo. 
But, although a whoop was once heard, which seemed from its 
intonation to be Indian, we were unsuccessful in gaining an 
interview, and, after losing a good deal of time in the effort, 
were obliged to give it up, and proceed. We had now lost 
some hours. 

Much of our way lay through open oak forests, with a thick 
bed of fallen leaves, and w^e several times searched under these 
for sweet acorns ; but we uniformly found that the wild turkeys 
had been too quick for us — every sweet acorn had been 
scratched up and eaten, and none remained but such as were 
bitter and distasteful. On descending an eminence, we found 
the sassafras plentifully, and, breaking ofif branches of it, 
chewed them, which took away the astringent and bad taste 
of the acorns. 

As night approached, we searched in vain for water on the 
elevated grounds, and were compelled to seek the river valley, 
where we encamped in an old Indian wigwam of bark, and 
found the night chilly and cold. We turned restlessly on our 
pallets, waiting for day. 

Nov. 28th. Daylight was most welcome. I built a fire 
against the stump of a dead tree, which had been broken off 
by lightning at a height of some thirty or forty feet from the 
ground. We here boiled our tea, and accurately divided about 
half an ounce of dried meat, being the last morsel we had. 
While thus engaged, a red-headed woodpecker lit on the tree, 
some fifteen or twenty feet above our heads, and began peck- 
ing. The visit was a most untimely one for the bird. In a 
few more moments, he lay dead at the foot of the tree, and, 
being plucked, roasted, and divided, furnished out our repast. 



76 MAKE A MEAL OF HICKORY NUTS. 

"VVe then gave the straps of our accoutrements a tight jerk, by 
way of preventing a flaccid stomach — an Indian habit — and 
set forward with renewed strength and hope. We travelled 
this day over a rolling country of hill and dale, with little to 
relieve the eye or demand observation, and laid down at night, 
fatigued, in the edge of a canebrake. 

Nov. 29th. A dense fog, which overhung the whole valley, 
prevented our quitting camp at a very early hour. When it 
arose, and the atmosphere became sufficiently clear to discern 
our way, we ascended the hills to our left, and took a west- 
south-west course. 

Nothing can exceed the roughness and sterility of the coun- 
try we have to-day traversed, and the endless succession of 
steep declivities, and broken, rocky precipices, surmounted. 
Our line of march, as soon as we left the low grounds of the 
river valley, led over moderately elevated ridges of oak-open- 
ings. We came at length to some hickory trees. Beneath 
one of them, the nuts laid in quantities on the ground. We 
sat down, and diligently commenced cracking them ; but this 
was soon determined to be too slow a process to satisfy hungry 
men, and, gathering a quantity for our night's encampment, 
we pushed forward diligently. Tramp ! tramp ! tramp ! we 
walked resolutely on, in a straight line, over hill and dale. 
Trees, rocks, prairie-grass, the jumping squirrel, the whirring 
quail — we gave them a glance, and passed on. We finally saw 
the sun set ; evening threw its shades around ; night presented 
its sombre hue ; and, as it grew dark, it became cloudy and 
cold. Still, no water to encamp by was found, and it finally 
became so dark that we were forced to grope our way. By 
groping in the darkness, we at length stood on the brink of a 
precipice, and could distinctly hear the gurgling sound of run- 
ning Avater in the gulf below. It was a pleasing sound ; for 
we had not tasted a drop since early dawn. Had we still had 
our horse, we should not have been able to get him down in 
the darkness ; but, by seizing hold of bushes, and feeling our 
way continually, we reached the bottom, and encamped imme- 
diately by the stream. It was a small run of pure mountain 



WELCOME SIGHT. 77 

water. Soon a fire arose on its banks. We cracked a few of 
the nuts. We drank our accustomed tin-cup of tea. We 
wrapped ourselves in our blankets upon its immediate margin, 
and knew no more till early daylight, when a cold air had quite 
chilled us. 

Nov. 30th. We were happy to get out of this gulf at the 
earliest dawn. After travelling a couple of miles, we stepped 
suddenly into a well-beaten horse-path, running transversely 
to our course, with fresh horse-tracks leading both ways. We 
stopped to deliberate which end of the path to take. I thought 
the right-hand would conduct us to the mouth of the river 
which we had been pursuing down, where it could hardly fail 
there should be hunters or pioneer settlers located. My com- 
panion thought the left hand should be taken, without offering 
any satisfactory reason for it. I determined, in an instant, to 
rise above him mentally, by yielding the point, and set out with 
a firm and ready pace to the left. We travelled diligently 
about three miles without meeting anything to note, but were 
evidently going back into the wilderness we had just left, by a 
wider circuit, when my companion relented, and we turned 
about on our tracks toward the mouth of the river. We had 
not gone far, and had not yet reached the point of our original 
issue from the forest, when we descried a man on horseback, 
coming toward us. Joy flashed in our eyes. When he came 
up, he told us that there was a hunter located at the mouth of 
the river, and another, named Wells, nearly equidistant on the 
path he was pursuing ; and that, if we would follow him, he 
would guide us to the latter. This we immediately determined 
to do, and, after travelling about seven miles, came in sight 
of the cabin. 

Our approach was announced by a loud and long-continued 
barking of dogs, who required frequent bidding from their mas- 
ter before they could be pacified. The first object worthy of re- 
mark that presented itself on our emerging from the forest, was 
a number of deer, bear, and other skins, fastened to a kind of 
rude frame, supported by poles, which occupied the area about 
the house. These trophies of skill in the chase were regarded 



78 REACH A hunter's CABIN. 

with great complacency by our conductor, as he pointed them 
out, and he remarked that Wells was " a great hunter, and a 
forehanded man." There were a number of acres of ground, 
from which he had gathered a crop of corn. The house was a 
substantial, new-built log tenement, of one room. The family 
consisted of the hunter and his wife, and four or five children, 
two of whom were men grown, and the youngest a boy of about 
sixteen. All, males and females, were dressed in leather pre- 
pared from deer-skins. The host himself was a middle-sized, 
light-limbed, sharp-faced man. Around the walls of the room 
hung horns of the deer and buffalo, with a rifle, shot-pouches, 
leather coats, dried meats, and other articles, giving unmis- 
takeable signs of the vocation of our host. The furniture was 
of his own fabrication. On one side hung a deerskin, sewed 
up in somewhat the shape of the living animal, containing 
bears' oil. In another place hung a similar vessel, filled with 
wild honey. 

All the members of the family seemed erudite in the know- 
ledge of woodcraft, the ranges and signs of animals, and their 
food and habits ; and while the wife busied herself in preparing 
our meal, she occasionally stopped to interrogate us, or take 
part in the conversation. When she had finished her prepa- 
rations, she invited us to sit down to a delicious meal of warm 
corn-bread and butter, honey and milk, to which we did ample 
justice. A more satisfactory meal I never made. 

It was late in the afternoon when our supper was prepared, 
and we spent the evening in giving and receiving information 
of the highest practical interest to each party. AVells recited 
a number of anecdotes of hunting, and of his domestic life. 
We repaid him with full accounts of our adventures. What 
appeared to interest him most, was the accounts of the bears 
and other wild animals we had seen. When the hour for rest 
arrived, we opened our sacks, and, spreading our blankets on 
a bearskin which he furnished, laid doAvn before the fire, and 
enjoyed a sound night's repose. 

Dec. 1st. We were up with the earliest dawning of light, 
and determined to regain our position at Camp No, on the 



RETURN TO OUR CAMP. Y9 

Great North Fork, with all possible despatch, and pursue our 
tour westward. We had understood from the conversation of 
the hunters among themselves, that they designed forthwith to 
proceed on a hunting excursion into the region we had passed, 
on the Great North Fork, and determined to avail ourselves 
of their guidance to our deposits and horse. We understood 
that our course from that point had been circuitous, and that 
the place could be reached by a direct line of twenty miles' 
travel due north-west. We purchased from our host a dressed 
deerskin for moccasins, a small quantity of Indian corn, some 
wild honey, and a little lead. The corn required pounding to 
convert it into meal. This we accomplished by a pestle, fixed 
to a loaded swing-pole, playing into a mortar burned into an 
oak stump. The payment for these articles, being made in 
money, excited the man's cupidity; for, although he had pre- 
viously determined on going in that direction, he now refused 
to guide us to Camp No, unless paid for it. This was also 
assented to, with the agreement to furnish us with the carcase 
of a deer. 

By eleven o'clock, A. M., all was ready, and, shouldering 
our knapsacks and guns, we set forward, accompanied by our 
host, his three sons, and a neighbor, making our party to con- 
sist of seven men, all mounted on horses but ourselves, and 
followed by a pack of hungry, yelping dogs. Our course was 
due north-west. As we were heavily laden and sore-footed, 
our shoes being literally worn from our feet by the stony tracts 
we had passed over, the cava-lcade were occasionally obliged to 
halt till we came up. This proved such a cause of delay to 
them, that they finally agreed to let us ride and walk, alter- 
nately, with the young men. In this way we passed over an 
undulating tract, not heavily timbered, until about ten o'clock 
at night, when we reached our abandoned camp, where we 
found our baggage safe. A couple of the men had been de- 
tached from the party, early in the morning, to hunt the stipu- 
lated deer ; but they did not succeed in finding any, and came 
in long before us, with a pair of turkeys. One of these we 
despatched for supper, and then all betook themselves to 
repose. 




80 TT^ .7] 

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onotj vUdk secc: 

^lalw of tfce Onife^ * -ae 

Wiv «f dfee Taller^ 







ForST Tfcie^tts. at$ i&ieT 







SHOOT A TURKEY. 81 

position. If we had called it camp " No" from our disappoint- 
ment at not finding it inhabited on our first arrival, it was now 
again appropriately camp "No," from not obtaining adequate 
relief from the hunters. We had procured a dressed buckskin 
for making moccasins. We had a little pounded corn, in a 
shape to make hunters' bread. W^e had not a mouthful of 
meat. I devoted part of the day to making a pair of Indian 
shoes. We had not a single charge of shot left. We had 
procured lead enough to mould just five bullets. This I 
carefully did. I then sallied out in search of game, scanning 
cautiously the neighboring canebrakc, and fired, at different 
times, three balls, unsuccessfully, at turkeys. It was evident, 
as I had the birds within range, that my gun had been sprung 
in the heavy fall I had had, as before related, in the cross- 
ing Calamarca. My companion then took his gun, and also 
made an unsuccessful shot. When evening approached, a 
flock of turkeys came to roost near by. We had now just one 
ball left ; everything depended on that. I took it to the large 
and firm stump of an oak, and cut it into exactly thirty-two 
pieces, with geometrical precision. I then beat the angular 
edges of each, until they assumed a sufficiently gwbular shape 
to admit of their being rolled on a hard surface, under a pres- 
sure. This completed their globular form. I then cleansed 
my companion's gun, and carefully loaded it with the thirty- 
two shot. We then proceeded to the roost, which was on 
some large oaks, in a contiguous valley. I carried a torch, 
which I had carefully made at the camp. My companion took 
the loaded gun, and I, holding the torch near the sights at the 
same time, so that its rays fell directly on the birds, he selected 
one, and fired. It proved to be one of the largest and hea- 
viest, and fell to the earth with a sound. We now returned to 
camp, and prepared a part of it for supper, determining to 
husband the remainder so as to last till we should reach settle- 
ments by holding a due west course. 

Dec. 4th. We had prepared ourselves to start west this 
day ; but it rained from early dawn to dark, which confined us 

F 



82 PREPARE FOR A FRESH SALLY. 

closely to our cabin. Kain is one of the greatest annoyances 
to the woodsman. Generally, he has no shelter against it, and 
must sit in it, ride in it, or walk in it. Where there is no 
shelter, the two latter are preferable. But, as we had a split- 
board roof, we kept close, and busied ourselves with more per- 
fect preparations for our next sally. I had some minerals that 
admitted of being more closely and securely packed, and gladly 
availed myself of the opportunity to accomplish it. Our foot 
and leg gear, also, required renovating. Experience had been 
our best teacher from the first ; and hunger and danger kept 
us pei-petually on the qui vive. and made us wise in little 
expedients. 



CHAPTER VII. 

PROCEED WEST BOG OUR HORSE — CROSS THE KNIFE HILLS — 

REACH THE UNICA, OR WHITE RIVER ABANDON THE HORSE 

AT A hunter's, and PROCEED WITH PACKS — OBJECTS OF PITY 

SUGAR-LOAF PRAIRIE — CAMP UNDER A CLIFF — FORD THE 

UNICA TWICE — DESCEND INTO A CAVERN -r- REACH BEAVER 
RIVER, THE HIGHEST POINT OF OCCUPANCY BY A HUNTER 
POPULATION. 

Dec. 5th. The rain ceased during the night, and left us a 
clear atmosphere in the morning. At an early hour we com- 
pleted the package of the horse, and, taking the reins, I led 
him to the brink of the river, and with difficulty effected a 
passage. The cliffs which formed the Avestern side of the val- 
ley, presented an obstacle not easily surmounted. By leading 
the animal in a zigzag course, however, this height was finally 
attained. The prospect, as far as the eye could reach, was 
discouraging. Hill on hill rose before us, with little timber, it 
is true, to impede us, but implying a continual necessity of 
crossing steeps and depressions. After encountering this 
rough surface about two miles, we came into a valley having a 
stream tributary to the Great North Fork of White river, which 
we had quitted that morning, but at a higher point. In this 
sub-valley we found our way impeded by another difficulty — 
namely, the brush and small canes that grew near the brook. 
To avoid this impediment, I took the horse across a low piece 
of ground, having a thicket, but which appeared to be firm. 
In this I was mistaken ; for the animal's feet soon began to 
sink, and ere long he stuck fast. The effort to extricate him 
but served to sink him deeper, and, by pawing to get out, he 
continually widened the slough in which he had sunk. We 

(83) 



84 ACCIDENT TO THE HORSE. 

then obtained poles, and endeavored to pry him up ; hut our 
own footing was continually giving way, and we at length be- 
held him in a perfect slough of soft black mud. After getting 
his pack off, we decided to leave him to his fate. We carried 
the pack to dry ground, on one side of the valley, and spread 
the articles out, not without deeply regretting the poor beast's 
plight. But then it occurred to us that, if the horse were 
abandoned, we must also abandon our camp-kettle, large axe, 
beds, and most of our camp apparatus ; and another and con- 
centrated effort was finally resolved on. To begin, we cut 
down two tall saplings, by means of which the horse was pried 
up from the bottom of the slough. He was then grasped by 
the legs and turned over, which brought his feet in contact 
with the more solid part of the ground. A determined effort, 
both of horse and help, now brought him to his feet. He 
raised himself up, and, by pulling with all our might, we 
brought him on dry ground. I then led him gently to our 
place of deposit, and, by means of bunches of sere grass, we 
both busied ourselves first to rub off the mud and wet, and 
afterwards to groom him, and rub him dry. When he was 
properly restored, it was found that he was able to carry his 
pack-saddle and pack ; and he was led slowly up the valley 
about three miles, where we encamped. The grass in this 
little valley was of a nourishing quality, and by stopping early 
we allowed him to recruit himself. We did not estimate our 
whole distance this day at more than nine miles. 

Dec. 6th. Butcher had improved his time well in the tender 
grass during the night, and presented a more spirited appear- 
ance in the morning. We were now near the head of Bogbrook, 
which we had been following ; and as we quitted its sides, long 
to be remembered for our mishap, we began to ascend an ele- 
vated and bleak tract of the Mocama or Knife hills, so called, 
over which the winds rushed strongly as we urged our way. 
Few large trees were seen on these eminences, which were 
often bare, with a hard cherty footing, replaced sometimes by 
clusters of brambles and thickets. In one of these, a valuable 
couteau de chasse was swept from its sheath at my side, and 



DISMAL PROSPECT. 85 

lost. I was now reduced to a single knife, of the kind fabri- 
cated for the Indians, under the name of scalper. For a dis- 
tance of sixteen miles we held on our way, in a Avest-south-west 
course, turning neither to the right nor left. As night ap- 
proached, we found ourselves descending into a considerable 
valley, caused by a river. The shrubbery and grass of its 
banks had been swept by fire in the fall, and a new crop of 
grass was just rising. We formed our encampment in this 
fire-swept area, which afforded Butcher another benefit, and 
made some amends for his scanty fare among the bleak emi- 
nences of the Ozarks. This stream proved to be the Little 
North Fork of White river. We here despatched the last 
morsel of our turkey. 

Dec. 7th. The ascent of the hills which bounded the valley 
on the south-west was found to be very difiicult ; and when the 
summit was reached, there spread before us an extensive 
prairie, of varied surface. Trees occasionally appeared, but 
were in no place so thickly diffused as to prevent the growth 
of a beautiful carpet of prairie grass. When we had gone 
about six miles, a bold mound-like hill rose on our left, which 
seemed a favorable spot for getting a view of the surrounding 
country. We had been told by the hunters that in travelling 
fifteen miles about west, we should reach a settlement at Sugar- 
loaf Prairie, on the main channel of the Unica or White river. 
But on reaching the summit of this natural lookout, we could 
descry nothing that betokened human habitation. As far as 
the eye could reach, prairies and groves filled the undulating 
vista. On reaching its foot again, where our horse was tied, 
we changed our course to the south, believing that our direc- 
tions had been vague. We had gone about a mile in this direc- 
tion, when we entered a faint and old horse-path. This gave 
animation to our steps. We pursued it about three miles, 
when it fell into another and plainer path, having the fresh 
tracks of horses. We were now on elevated ground, which 
commanded views of the country all around. Suddenly the 
opposite side of a wide valley appeared to open far beneath 
us, and, stepping forward the better to scan it, the river of 



si 



86 REACH A SETTLEMENT. 

which we were In search presented its bright, broad, and placid 
surface to our view, at several hundred feet below. We stood 
admiringly on the top of a high, rocky, and precipitous cliff. 
Instinctively to shout, was my first impulse. My companion, 
as he came up, also shouted. We had reached the object of 
our search. 

Pursuing the brow of the precipice about a mile, a log build- 
ing and some fields were discovered on the opposite bank. On 
descending the path whose traces we had followed, it brought 
us to a ford. We at once prepared to cross the river, which 
was four or five hundred yards wide, reaching, in some places, 
half-leg high. On ascending the opposite bank, we came to 
the house of a Mr. M'Garey, who received us with an air of 
hospitality, and made us welcome to his abode. He had seve- 
ral grown sons, who were present, and who, as we found by 
their costume and conversation, were hunters. Mrs. M'G. was 
engaged in trying bears' fat, and in due time she invited us to 
sit down to a meal of these scraps, with excellent corn-bread 
and sassafras tea, with sugar and milk, served in cups. 

M'Garey had a bluff frankness of manner, with an air of 
independence in the means of living, and an individuality of 
character, which impressed us favorably. He told us that we 
were eight hundred miles west of the Mississippi by the stream, 
that White river was navigable by keel-boats for this distance, 
and that there were several settlements on its banks. He had 
several acres in cultivation in Indian corn, possessed horses, 
cows, and hogs, and, as we observed at the door, a hand-mill. 
At a convenient distance was a smoke-house, where meats were 
preserved. I observed a couple of odd volumes of books on a 
shelf. He was evidently a pioneer on the Indian land. He 
said that the Cherokees had been improperly located along the 
western bank of White river, extending to the Arkansas, and 
that the effect was to retard and prevent the purchase and 
settlement of the country by the United States. He com- 
plained of this, as adverse to the scattered hunters, who were 
anxious to get titles for their lands. He did not represent the 
Cherokees as being hostile, or as having committed any depre- 
dations. But he depicted the Osages as the scourge and 



DISCOURAGING INFORMATION. 87 

terror of the country. They roamed from the Arkansas to 
the Missouri frontier, and pillaged whoever fell in their way. 
He detailed the particulars of a robbery committed in the very 
house we were sitting in, when they took away horses, clothes, 
and whatever they fancied. They had visited him in this way 
twice, and recently stole from him eight beaver-skins ; and 
during their last foray in the valley, they had robbed one of 
his neighbors, called Teen Friend, of all his arms, traps, and 
skins, and detained him a prisoner. This tribe felt hostile to 
all the settlers on the outskirts of Missouri and Arkansas, and 
were open robbers and plunderers of all the whites who fell 
defenceless into their hands. They Avere, he thought, particu- 
larly to be dreaded in the region which we proposed to explore. 
He also said that the Osages were hostile to the newly-arrived 
Cherokees, who had migrated from the east side of the Missis- 
sippi, and had settled in the country between the Red river 
and Arkansas, and that these tribes were daily committing 
trespasses upon each other. Having myself, but a short time 
before, noticed the conclusion of a peace between the western 
Cherokees and Osages at St. Louis, before General Clark, 
I was surprised to hear this ; but he added, as an illustration 
of this want of faith, that when the Cherokees returned from 
that treaty, they pursued a party of Osages near the banks of 
White river, and stole twenty horses from them. 

Dec. 8th. On comparing opinions, for which purpose we 
had an interview outside the premises, it seemed that these 
statements were to be received with some grains of allowance. 
They were natural enough for a victim of Indian robberies, 
and doubtless true ; but the events had not been recent, and 
they were not deemed sufficient to deter us from proceeding in 
our contemplated tour to the higher Ozarks at the sources of 
the river. It was evident that we had erred a good deal from 
our stick bridge at Calamarca, from the proper track ; but we 
were nevertheless determined not to relinquish our object. 

Having obtained the necessary information, we determined 
to pursue our way, for which purpose we turned the horse to 
graze with M'Garey's, rid ourselves of all our heavy baggage 



0» CASE OF DISTRESS. 

by depositing It with him, and prepared our knapsacks for this 
new essay. When ready, our host refused to take any pay for 
his hospitalities, but, conducting us to his smokehouse, opened 
the door, and then, drawing his knife from its sheath, placed 
it, with an air of pomposity, in my hand, offering the handle- 
end, and said, " Go in and cut." I did so, taking what ap- 
peared to be sufficient to last us to our next expected point of 
meeting hunters. The place was well filled with buffiilo and 
bear meat, both smoked and fresh, hanging on cross-bars. 

At nine o'clock we bade our kind entertainer adieu, and, 
taking directions to reach Sugar-loaf Praii-ie, crossed over the 
river by the same ford which we had taken in our outward 
track from Camp No, in the valley of the Great North Fork. 
Relieved from the toilsome task of leading the horse, we 
ascended the opposite cliffs with alacrity, and vigorously pur- 
sued our course, over elevated ground, for about sixteen miles. 
The path then became obscure ; the ground was so flinty and 
hard, that it was in vain we searched for tracks of horses' feet. 
Some time was lost in this search, and we finally encamped in 
a cane bottom in the river valley. 

My companion had again charged himself with the coffee- 
pot, which he carried in a similar manner at his back ; and 
when I came to open my pack, told me he thought I had not 
cut deep enough into the dried bear's meat of M'Garey's smoke- 
house. To a man who refused all pay, and had been invaria- 
bly kind, I felt that moderation, in this respect, was due. I 
was, besides, myself to be the carrier of it ; and we, indeed, 
never had cause to regret the carefulness of my selection. 

Dec. 9th. Finding ourselves in the river's bottom, we 
forced our way, with no small effort, through the thick growth 
of cane and vines. We had, perhaps, advanced seven miles 
through this dense vegetation, when we suddenly burst into a 
small cleared space. Here, in a little, incomplete shanty, we 
found a woman and her young child. She had not a morsel to 
eat, and looked half famished. Her husband had gone into 
the forest to hunt something to eat. The child looked feeble. 
We were touched at the sight, and did all we could to relieve 



PIONEER HOSPITALITY. 89 

them. They had been in that position of new-comers about 
two weeks, having come up from the lower parts of the river. 

From this point, we ascended the river hills eastwardly, and 
pursued our journey along an elevated range to the Sugar-loaf 
Prairie — a name which is derived from the striking effects of 
denudation on the limestone cliffs, which occupy the most ele- 
vated positions along this valley. We were received with blunt 
hospitality by a tall man in leather, called Coker, whose man- 
ner appears to be characteristic of the hunter. Our approach 
was heralded by the usual loud and long barking of dogs, and 
we found the premises surrounded by the invariable indications 
of a successful hunter — skins of the bear and other animals, 
stretched out on frames to dry. 

We were no sooner at home with our entertainer, than he 
began to corroborate what we had before heard of the hostility 
of the Osages. He considered the journey at this season 
hazardous, as he thought they had not yet broke up their fall 
hunting-camps, and retired to their villages on the Grand Osaw 
(Osage). He also thought it a poor season for game, and pre- 
sented a rather discouraging prospect to our view. My gun 
having proved useless, we tried to obtain a rifle which he pos- 
sessed, and seemed willing to part with, but not at a reasonable 
price. 

Mr. Coker represented the settlers of Sugar-loaf Prairie to 
consist of four families, situated within the distance of eight 
miles, including both banks of the river. This was exclusive 
of two families living at Beaver creek, the highest point yet 
occupied. 

Dec. 10th. It was noon before we were prepared to depart 
from Coker's. The old man refused to take anything for our 
meals and lodging ; and we bade him adieu, after taking his 
directions as to the best route to pursue to reach Beaver creek, 
our next point. We travelled through a lightly-timbered, hilly, 
barren country, about eight miles, when the skies became over- 
cast, and some rain fell. It was still an early hour to encamp, 
but we came at this time into a small ravine, with running 
water, which had on one bank a shelving cave in the limestone 
8* 



90 UNPLEASANT DILEMMA. 

rock, forming a protection from the rain. We built a fire from 
red cedar, which emitted a strong aromatic odor. The weather 
begins to assume a wintry character ; this is the first day we 
have been troubled with cold fingers. 

Dec. 11th. We left our camp at the cave on Cedar brook, 
and resumed our march at an early hour, and found the face 
of the country still rough and undulating, but covered, to a 
great extent, with brush. My companion thought we had gone 
far enough to have struck the waters of the Beaver, and, as he 
carried the compass this day, he deviated westward from the 
intended course. This brought us to the banks of a river, 
which he insisted, contrary to my opinion, must be the Beaver. 
To me this did not seem probable, but, yielding the point to 
him, we forded the stream at waist deep. We then ascended 
a lofty and difficult range of river hills, and, finding ourselves 
now at the level of the country, we held on in a westerly 
course, till it became clearly evident, even to my companion, 
that we were considerably west of the White river. We then 
retraced our steps, descended the river hills to the bank of the 
stream, and followed up its immediate margin, in search of a 
convenient spot for encampment ; for, by this time, night ap- 
proached rapidly. We were soon arrested by a precipitous 
cliff, against the base of which the river washed. As the sun 
sank lower, we felt a keen and cold wind, but could not find a 
stick of wood on the western bank with which to kindle a fire. 
The alternative presented to us was, either to remain here all 
night without a fire, exposed to the chilling blast, or cross a 
deep stream to the opposite shore, where there was an exten- 
sive alluvial plain, covered with trees and the cane plant, and 
promising an abundance of fuel. 

Night had already closed around us, when we decided to 
cross the river. We found it to be four or five feet deep, and 
some tAvo hundred yards Avide. When we got over, it was 
with great difficulty that we succeeded in collecting a suffi- 
ciency of dry materials to kindle a fire ; and by the time we 
had accomplished it, our wet clothes had become stiff and cold, 
the wind at the same time blowing very fiercely. Our utmost 



A PHENOMENON. 91 

efforts were required to dry and -warm ourselves, nor did we 
attain these points in a sufficient degree to secure a comfort- 
able night's rest. 

Dec. 12th. The ground this morning was covered with 
white hoar-frost, with a keen and cold air, and a wintry sky. 
Early daylight found us treading our way across the low 
grounds to the cliffs. We soon ascended on an elevated rocky 
shore, bordering the river, which M-as completely denuded of 
trees and shrubbery. It was early, the sun not having yet 
risen, when we beheld before us, rising out of the ground, a 
column of air which appeared to be of a warmer temperature. 
Its appearance was like that of smoke from a chimney on a 
frosty morning. On reaching it, the phenomenon was found 
to be caused by a small orifice in the earth, from which rarefied 
air issued. On looking down intently, and partially excluding 
the light, it was seen to be a fissure in the limestone rock, with 
jagged, narrow sides, leading down into a cavern. I deter- 
mined to try the descent, and found the opening large enough 
to admit my body. Feeling for a protuberance on which to 
rest my feet, and closely pressing the sides of the orifice, I 
slowly descended. My fear was that the crevice would sud- 
denly enlarge, and let me drop. But I descended in safety. 
I thus let myself down directly about twenty feet, and came 
to the level floor of a gallery which led in several directions. 
The light from above was sufficient to reveal the dark outlines 
of a ramified cavern, and to guide my footsteps for a distance. 
I went as far in the largest gallery as the light cast any direct 
rays, but found nothing at all on the floor or walls to reward 
my adventure. It was a notable fissure in a carbonate of lime, 
entirely dry, and without stalactites. What I most feared in 
these dim recesses, was some carnivorous animal, for whose 
residence it appeared to be well adapted. Having explored it 
as far as I could command any light to retrace my steps, I 
returned to the foot of the original orifice. I found no diffi- 
culty, by pressing on each side, in ascending to the surface, 
bringing along a fragment of tlie limestone rock. I afterwards 
observed, while descending the river, that this cavern was in a 



92 THE LITTLE TOWER. 

high, precipitous part of the coast, of calcareous rock, the foot 
of which was washed by the main channel of White river. 

"VVe now resumed our march, and, at the distance of about 
six miles, reached Beaver creek, a mile or two above its mouth. 
It is a beautiful, clear stream, of sixty yards wide, with a depth 
of two feet, and a hard, gravelly bottom. We forded it, and, 
keeping down the bank, soon fell into a horse-path, which led 
us, in following it about a mile and a half, to a hunter's dwell- 
ing, occupied by a man named Fisher. He received us in a 
friendly manner, and we took up our abode with him. Six or 
eight hundred yards higher, there was another cabin, occupied 
by a man named Holt. Both had been but a short time located 
at this place ; they had not cleared any ground, nor even 
finished the log houses they occupied. Both buildings were on 
the bank of the river, on the edge of a large and very fertile 
bottom, well wooded, and with "a very picturesque coast of 
limestone opposite, whose denuded pinnacles had received the 
name of the Little Tower. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

OBSTACLE PRODUCED BY THE FEAR OF OSAGE HOSTILITY — MEANS 
PURSUED TO OVERCOME IT — NATURAL MONUMENTS OF DENUDA- 
TION IN THE LIMESTONE CLIFFS — PURITY OF THE "WATER — PEB- 
BLES OF YELLOW JASPER — COMPLETE THE HUNTERS' CABINS — 
A JOB IN JEWELLERY — CONSTRUCT A BLOWPIPE FROM CANE — 
WHAT IS THOUGHT OP RELIGION. 

Dec. ]3th. Holt and Pisher were the highest occupants of 
the White river valley. They had reached this spot about four 
months before, and had brought their effects partly on pack- 
horses, and partly in canoes. The site was judiciously chosen. 
A finer tract of rich river bottom could not have been found, 
while the site commanded an illimitable region, above and 
around it, for hunting the deer, buffalo, elk, and other species, 
besides the beaver, otter, and small furred animals, which are 
taken in traps. We tried, at first vainly, to persuade them to 
accompany us in our further explorations. To this they replied 
that it was Osage hunting-ground, and that that tribe never 
failed to plunder and rob all who fell in their power, particu- 
larly hunters and trappers. And besides, they were but recent 
settlers, and had not yet completed their houses and improve- 
ments. 

As we were neither hunters nor trappers, we had no fears 
of Osage hostility ; for this was, in a measure, the just retribu- 
tion of that tribe for an intrusion on their lands, and the 
destruction of its game, which constituted its chief value to 
them. Nor did we anticipate encountering them at all, at this 
season, as they must have withdrawn, long ere this, to their 
villages on the river Osage. 

(93) 



94 NEW ARRANGEMENTS. 

Dec. 14tb. There appears no other way to induce the 
hunters to go with us, but to aid them in completing their cot- 
tages and improvements. This we resolved to do. Holt then 
af^reed to accompany us as a guide and huntsman, with the 
further stipulation that he was to have the horse which had 
been left at M'Gary's, and a small sum of money, with liberty 
also to undertake a journey to the settlements below for corn. 
Hereupon, Fisher also consented to accompany us. 

Dec. 15th. This obstacle to our movements being over- 
come, we busied ourselves in rendering to the hunters all the 
assistance in our power, and made it an object to show them 
that we could do this effectively. We began by taking hold 
of the frow and axe, and aiding Holt to split boards for cover- 
ing a portion of the roof of his bouse. I doubt whether my 
companion had ever done the like work before ; I am sure I 
never had ; but baving thrown myself on this adventure, I 
most cheerfully submitted to all its adverse incidents. 

Dec. 16th. This morning, Holt and Fisher — the latter 
accompanied by his son, with three horses — set out on their 
journey to purchase corn, leaving us, in the interim, to provide 
fuel for their families ; a labor by no means light, as the cold 
was now severe, and was daily growing more intense. To-day, 
for the first time, we observed floating ice in the river ; and, 
even within the cabins, water exposed in vessels for a few 
moments, acquired a thin coating of ice. 

Dec. 17th. At daybreak we built a substantial, rousing fire 
in the cabin, of logs several feet long ; we then pounded the 
quantity of corn necessary for the family's daily use. This 
process brings the article into the condition of coarse grits, 
which are boiled soft, and it then bears the name of homony. 
Of this nutritious dish our meals generally consist, with boiled 
or fried bear's bacon, and a decoction of sassafras tea. The 
fat of the bear is very white and delicate, and appears to be 
more digestible than fresh pork, which is apt to cloy in the 



EXPLORATION OF THE CLIFFS. 95 

stomach. After breakfast, wishing to give the hunters evidence 
of our capacity of being useful, we took our axes and sallied 
out into the adjoining wood, and began to fell the trees, cut 
them into proper lengths for firewood, and pile the brush. 
About five o'clock, we were summoned to our second meal, 
which is made to serve as dinner and supper. We then car- 
ried up the quantity of firewood necessary for the night. This 
consumed the remainder of the short December day ; and, 
before lying down for the night, we replenished the ample fire. 
This sketch may serve as an outline of our daily industry, 
during the eleven days we tarried with the hunters. 

Dec. 18th. I have mentioned the fondness of my compa- 
nion for tea. This afternoon he thought to produce an agree- 
able surprise in our hostess's mind, by preparing a dish of 
young hyson. But she sipped it as she would have done the 
decoction of some bitter herb, and frankly confessed that she 
did not like it as well as the forest substitutes, namely, sassa- 
fras, dittany, and spicewood. And the manner in which she 
alluded to it as " store tea," plainly denoted the article not to 
be numbered among the wants of a hunter's life. 

Dec. 19th. The river having been closed with ice within 
the last two days, we crossed it this afternoon to visit the two 
pyramidal monuments of geological denudation which mark 
the limestone range of the opposite shore. I determined, if 
possible, to ascend one of them. The ascent lies through a 
defile of rocks. By means of projections, which could some- 
times be reached by cedar roots, and now and then a leap or 
a scramble, I succeeded in ascending one of them to near its 
apex, which gave me a fine view of the windings of the river. 
The monuments consist of stratified limestone, which has, all 
but these existing peaks, crumbled under the efiects of disin- 
tegration, I observed no traces of organic remains. It 
appeared to be of the same general character with the metal- 
liferous beds of Missouri, and is, viewed in extenso, like that, 
based on grey or cream-colored sand-rock. I found this lime- 
stone rock cavernous, about seven miles below. 



96 TRAGIC AFFAIR. 

In crossing the river, I was impressed with the extreme 
purity of the water. The ice near the cliifs having been 
formed during a calm night, presented the crystalline purity 
of glass, through which every inequality, pebble, and stone in 
its bed, could be plainly perceived. The surface on which we 
stood was about an inch thick, bending as we walked. The 
depth of water appeared to be five or six feet ; but I was told 
that it was fully twenty. The pebbles at this place are often 
a small, pear-shaped, opaque, yellow jasper. They appear to 
have been disengaged from some mineral bed at a higher point 
on the streanj. 

Dec. 20th. Observed as a day of rest, it being the Sabbath. 
The atmosphere is sensibly milder, and attended with haziness, 
■which appears to betoken rain. . 

Dec. 21st. We employed ourselves till three o'clock in 
hewing and splitting planks for Holt's cabin floor, when rain 
compelled us to desist. 

The following circumstance recently occurred here : Two 
hunters had a dispute about a horse, which it was alleged one 
had stolen from the other ; the person aggrieved, meeting the 
other some days after in the woods, shot him dead. He imme- 
diately fled, keeping the woods for several weeks ; when the 
neighboring hunters, aroused by so glaring an outrage, assem- 
bled and set out in quest of him. Being an expert woodsman, 
the off"ender eluded them for some time ; but at last they ob- 
tained a glimpse of him as he passed through a thicket, when 
one of his pursuers shot him through the shoulder, but did not 
kill him. This event happened a few days before our arrival 
in this region. It will probably be the cause of several mur- 
ders, before the feud is ended. 

Dec. 22d. The rain having ceased, we resumed and com- 
pleted our job of yesterday at Holt's. The atmosphere is' 
hazy, damp, and warm. 

My medical skill had not been called on since the affair at 
the Four Bear creek, where my companion sprained his ankle. 



PKACTISE MEDICINE. 97 

The child of Mrs. Holt -was taken ill with a complaint so 
manifestly bilious, that I gave it relief by administering a few 
grains of calomel. This success led to an application from her 
neighbor, Mrs. F., whose delicate situation made the responsi- 
bility of a prescription greater. This also proved favorable, 
and I soon had other applicants. 

Dec. 23d. About ten o'clock this morning, Holt and Fisher 
returned, laden with corn. The day was mild and pleasant, 
the severity of the atmosphere having moderated, and the sky 
become clear and bright. They appeared to be pleased with 
the evidences of our thrift and industry during their absence, 
and we now anticipated with pleasure an early resumption of 
our journey. To this end, we were resolved that nothing 
should be wanting on our part. We had already faithfully 
devoted seven days to every species of labor that was neces- 
sary to advance their improvements. 

Dec. 24th. I had yesterday commenced hewing out a table 
for Holt's domicile, from a fine, solid block of white-ash. I 
finished the task to-day, to the entire admiration of all. We 
now removed our lodgings from Fisher's to Holt's, and em- 
ployed the remainder of the day in chinking and daubing his 
log house. 

Of these two men, who had pushed themselves to the very 
verge of western civilization, it will be pertinent to say, that 
their characters were quite difierent. Holt was the better 
hunter, and more social and ready man. He was quick with 
the rifle, and suffered no animal to escape him. Fisher was 
of a more deliberative temperament, and more inclined to sur- 
round himself with the reliances of agriculture. He was also 
the better mechanic, and more inclined to labor. Holt hated 
labor like an Indian, and, like an Indian, relied for subsist- 
ence on the chase exclusively. Fisher was very superstitious, 
and a believer in witchcraft. Holt was scarcely a believer in 
anything, but was ever ready for action. He could talk a 
little Chickasaw, and had several of their chansons, which he 
sung. Both men had kept for years moving along on the 
9 G 



98 PREPARATIONS FOR A START. 

outer frontiers, ever ready for a new remove ; and it was plain 
enough, to the listener to their tales of wild adventure, that 
they had not been impelled, thus far, on the ever advancing 
line of border life, from the observance of any of the sterner 
virtues or qualities of civilized society. There were occasions 
in their career, if we may venture an opinion, when to shoot a 
deer, or to shoot a man, were operations that could be per- 
formed "agreeably to circumstances." To us, however, they 
were uniformly kind, frank, friendly ; for, indeed, there was no 
possible light in which our interests were brought in conflict. 
We were no professed hunters, and our journey into the Ozark 
hunting-grounds was an advantage to them, by making them 
better acquainted with the geography of their position. 

They could not quit home on such a journey, however, 
without leaving some meat for tjieir families ; and they both 
set out to-day for this purpose. It appeared that they had, 
some days before, killed on a river bottom, about twelve miles 
above this point in the river valley, a buifalo, a bear, and a 
panther ; but, not having horses with them, had scaffolded the 
carcases of the two former. Notwithstanding this precaution, 
the wolves had succeeded in reaching the buffalo meat, and 
had partly destroyed it. The carcase of the bear was safe. 
They returned in the afternoon with their trophies. They 
also brought down some of the leg-bones of the buffalo, for 
the sake of their marrow. They are boiled in water, to cook 
the marrow, and then cracked open. The quantity of marrow 
is immense. It is eaten while hot, with salt. We thought it 
delicious. 

We learn by conversing with the hunters that a high value 
is set upon the dog, and that they are sought with great avi- 
dity. We heard of one instance where a cow was given for a 
good hunting dog. 

Dec. 25th, Christmas day. At our suggestion, the hunters 
went out to shoot some turkeys for a Christmas dinner, and, 
after a couple of hours' absence, returned with fourteen. In 
the meantime, we continued our labors in completing the 
house. 



A JOB OF JEWELLERY. 99 

I prevailed on our hostess, to-day, to undertake a turkey- 
pie, with a crust of Indian meal ; and, the weather being mild, 
we partook of it under the shade of a tree, on the banks of 
the river. 

Dec. 26th. Having now obviated every objection, and con- 
vinced the hunters that no dangers were to be apprehended at 
this late season from the Osages, and having completed the 
preparations for the tour, to-morrow is fixed on as the time of 
starting. 

Our hostess mentioned to me that she had a brass ring, 
which she had worn for many years, and declared it to be an 
infallible remedy for the cramp, with which she had been much 
afflicted before putting it on, but had not had the slightest 
return of it since. She was now much distressed on account 
of having lately broken it ; and, observing the care I bestowed 
on my mineralogical packages, she thought I must possess skill 
in such affairs, and solicited me to mend it. It was in vain 
that I represented that I had no blowpipe or other necessary 
apparatus for the purpose. She was convinced I could do it, 
and I was unwilling to show a disobliging disposition by refus- 
ing to make the attempt. I therefore contrived to make a 
blowpipe by cutting several small pieces of cane, and fitting 
one into the other until the aperture was drawn down to the 
required degree of fineness. A hollow cut in a billet of wood, 
and filled with live hickory coals, answered instead of a lamp ; 
and with a small bit of silver money, and a little borax applied 
to the broken ring, with my wooden blowpipe, I soon soldered 
it, and afterwards filed ofi" the redundant silver with a small 
file. I must remark that the little file and bit of borax, with- 
out which the job could not have been accomplished, was pro- 
duced from the miscellaneous housewife of my hostess. 

Dec. 27th. Rain, which began at night, rendered it impos- 
sible to think of starting to-day. It was the Sabbath, and 
was improved as a time of rest and reflection. I took the 
occasion to make some allusions, in a gentle and unobtrusive 
way, to the subject, and, in connection with some remarks 



100 IDEAS OF RELIGION. 

■which one of my entertainers had made a few days previously, 
on the subject of religion generally, condense the following 
observations : — He said that while living on the banks of the 
Mississippi, a few years ago, he occasionally attended religious 
meetings, and thought them a very good thing ; but he had 
found one of the preachers guilty of a gross fraud, and deter- 
mined never to go again. He thought that a man might be as 
good without going to church as with it, and that it seemed to 
him to be a useless expenditure, &c. ; very nearly, indeed, the 
same kind of objections which are made by careless and un- 
believing persons everywhere, I fancy, in the woods or out of 
them. 

The hardships of the hunter's life fall heavily on females. 
Mrs. Holt tells me that she has not lived in a floored cabin for 
several years — that during this period they have changed their 
abode many times — and that she has lost four children, who 
all died under two years. 



CHAPTER IX. 

PROCEED INTO THE HUNTING-COUNTRY OF THE OSAGES — DILUVIAL 
HILLS AND PLAINS — BALD HILL — SWAN CREEK — OSAGE ENCAMP- 
MENTS FORM OF THE OSAGE LODGE — THE HABITS OF THE 

BEAVER — DISCOVER A REMARKABLE CAVERN IN THE LIMESTONE 
ROCK, HAVING NATURAL VASES OF PURE WATER — ITS GEOLO- 
GICAL AND METALLIFEROUS CHARACTER — REACH THE SUMMIT 
OF THE OZARK RANGE, WHICH IS FOUND TO DISPLAY A BROAD 
REGION OF FERTILE SOIL, OVERLYING A MINERAL DEPOSIT. 

My stay, which I regarded in the light of a pilgrimage, at 
the hunters' cabins, was now drawing to a close. I had origi- 
nally reached their camps after a fatiguing and devious march 
through some of the most sterile and rough passages of the 
Ozarks, guided only by a pocket compass, and had thrown 
myself on their friendship and hospitality to further my pro- 
gress. Without their friendly guidance, it was felt that no 
higher point in this elevation could be reached. Every objec- 
tion raised by them had now been surmounted. I had waited 
their preliminary journey for corn for their families, and my 
companion and myself had made ourselves useful by helping, 
in the mean time, to complete their cabins and improvements. 
While thus engaged, I had become tolerably familiar with their 
character, physical and moral, and may add something more 
respecting them. Holt, as I have before indicated, was a pure 
hunter, expert with the rifle, and capable of the periodical 
exertion and activity which hunting requires, but prone to take 
his ease when there was meat in the cabin, and averse to all 
work beside. He was of an easy, good-natured temper, and 
would submit to a great deal of inconvenience and want, before 
he would rouse himself. But when out in the woods, or on the 
9 * (101) 



102 JOURNEY RESUMED. 

prairies, he was quite at home. He knew the habits and range 
of animals, their time for being out of their coverts, the kind 
of food they sought, and the places where it was likely to be 
found. lie had a quick eye and a sure aim, and quadruped or 
bird that escaped him, must be nimble. He was about five feet 
eight inches in height, stout and full faced, and was particu- 
lar in his gear and dress, but in nothing so much as the skin 
wrapper* that secured his rifle-lock. This was always in 
perfect order. 

Fisher was two or three inches taller, more slender, lank of 
features, and sterner. He was a great believer in the bewitch- 
ing of guns, seemed often to want a good place to fire from, 
had more deliberation in what he did, and was not so success- 
ful a sportsman. He had, too, when in the cabin, more no- 
tions of comfort, built a larger dwelling, worked more on it, 
and had some desires for cultivation. When on the prairie, 
he dismounted from his horse with some deliberation ; but, 
before he was well on terra firma, Holt had slid off and killed 
his game. The shots of both were true, and, between them, 
we ran no danger of wanting a meal. 

It was the twenty-eighth day of December before every 
objection to their guiding us was obviated, and, although 
neither of them had been relieved from the fear of Osage hos- 
tility, they mounted their horses in the morning, and announced 
themselves ready to proceed. Our course now lay toward 
the north-west, and the weather was still mild and favorable. 
We ascended through the heavily-timbered bottom-lands of the 
valley for a mile or two, and then passed by an easy route 
through the valley cliffs, to the prairie uplands north of them. 
After getting fairly out of the gorge we had followed, we 
entered on a rolling highland prairie, with some clumps of 
small forest trees, and covered, as far as the eye could reach, 
with coarse wild grass, and the seed-pods of autumnal flowers, 
nodding in the breeze. It was a waving surface. Sometimes 
the elevations assumed a conical shape. Sometimes we crossed 
a depression with trees. Often the deer bounded before us, 
and frequently the sharp crack of the rifle was the first inti- 
mation to me that game was near. Holt told me that the 



A DETERMINED FOLLOWER. 103 

error of the young or inexperienced hunters was in looking too 
far for their game. The plan to hunt successfully was, to 
raise the eye slowly from the spot just before you, for the game 
is often close by, and not to set it on distant objects at first. 
We moved on leisurely, with eyes and ears alert for every 
sight and sound. A bird, a quadruped, a track — these were 
important themes. 

When night approached, we encamped near the foot of an 
eminence, called, from its appearance, the Bald Hill. An 
incident occurred early in our march, which gave us no little 
concern. A fine young horse of one of the neighboring hunt- 
ers, which had been turned out to range, followed our track 
from White river valley, and, notwithstanding all the efforts 
of our guides, could not be driven back. At length they fired 
the dry prairie-grass behind us, the wind serving, deeming this 
the most effectual way of driving him back. The expedient 
did not, however, prove eventually successful ; for, after a 
while, the animal again made his appearance. We lost some 
time in these efforts. It was thought better, at length, that I 
should ride him, which was accomplished by placing a deerskin 
upon his back by way of saddle, with a kind of bridle, &c. 
The animal was spirited, and, thus mounted, I kept up with 
the foremost. 

We travelled to-day about ten miles. The day was clear, 
but chilly, with a north-westerly wind, which we had to face. 
Holt had killed a young doe during the day, which was quickly 
skinned, and he took along the choice parts of it for our eve- 
ning's repast. Part of the carcase was left behind as wolf s- 
meat. 

Dec. 20th. Little change appeared in the country. For 
about six miles we travelled over hill and dale, meeting nothing 
new, but constantly expecting something. We then descended 
into the valley of Swan creek — a clear stream of thirty yards 
wide, a tributary of White river. Its banks present a rich 
alluvial bottom, well wooded with maple, hickory, ash, hag- 
berry, elm, and sycamore. We followed up this valley about 
five miles, when it commenced raining, and we were compelled 



104 DESERTED OSAGE LODGES. 

to encamp. Protection from the rain, however, was impossi- 
ble. We gained some little shelter under .the broad roots of a 
clump of fallen trees and limbs, and passed a most comfortless 
night, being wet, and without a fire. 

The next morning, (Dec. 30th,) at the earliest dawn, we 
were in motion. After ascending the Swan creek valley about 
nine miles, through a most fertile tract, we fell into the Osage 
trail, a well-beaten horse-path, and passed successively three 
of their deserted camps, which had apparently been unoccu- 
pied for a month or more. The poles and frames of each lo^ge 
were left standing, and made a most formidable show. The 
paths, hacked trees, and old stumps of firebrands, showed that 
they had been deserted in the fall. The fear of this tribe now 
appeared to have left the minds of our guides. These encamp- 
ments were all very large, and could probably each have 
accommodated several hundred persons. 

The form of the Osage lodge may be compared to a hemi- 
sphere, or an inverted bird's-nest, with a small aperture left in 
the top for the escape of smoke, and an elongated opening at 
the side, by way of door, to pass and repass. It is constructed 
by cutting a number of flexible green poles, sharpened at one 
end, and stuck firmly in the ground. The corresponding tops 
are then bent over and tied, and the framework covered with 
linden bark. These wigwams are arranged in circles, one line 
of lodcres within another. In the centre is a scaffolding for 
meat. The chief's tent is conspicuously situated at the head 
of each encampment. It is different from the rest, resembling 
an inverted half cylinder. The whole is arranged with much 
order and neatness, and evinces that they move in large par- 
ties, that the chiefs exercise a good deal of authority. 

The Osages are a tribe who have from early times been pro- 
minent in the south-west, between the Arkansas and Missouri. 
The term Osage is of French origin ; it seems to be a transla- 
tion of the Algonquin term Assengigun, or Bone Indians. 
Why ? They call themselves Was-ba-shaw, and have a curious 
allegory of their having originated from a beaver and a snail. 
They are divided into two bands, the Little and Great Osages, 
the latter of whom make their permanent encampments on the 



LIFE IN THE WILDERNESS. 105 

river Osage of the Missouri. The Ozarks appear from early 
days to have been their hunting-grounds for the valuable furred 
animals, and its deep glens and gorges have served as nurseries 
for the bear. They are one of the great prairie stock of tribes, 
who call God Wacondah. They are physically a fine tribe of 
men, of good stature and courage, but have had the reputation, 
among white and red men, of being thieves and plunderers. 
Certainly, among the hunter population of this quarter, they 
are regarded as little short of ogres and giants ; and they tell 
most extravagant tales of their doings. Luckily, it was so 
late in the season that we were not likely to encounter many 
of them. 

In searching the precincts of the old camps, my guides 
pointed out a place where the Indians had formerly pinioned 
down Teen Friend, one of the most successful of the white 
trappers in this quarter, whom they had found trapping their 
beaver in the Swan creek valley. I thought it was an evidence 
of some restraining fear of our authorities at St. Louis, that 
they had not taken the enterprising old fellow's scalp, as well 
as his beaver packs. 

Life in the wilderness is dependent on contingencies, which 
are equally hard to be foreseen or controlled. We are, at all 
events, clearly out of the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace. 
And the maxim that we have carefully conned over in child- 
hood, "No man may put off the law of God," is but a feeble 
reliance when urged against the Osages or Pawnees. 

Deeming themselves now high enough up the Swan creek 
valley, my guides determined to leave it, and turned theii' 
horses' heads up a gorge that led to the open plains. We now 
steered our course north-west, over an elevated plain, or prai- 
rie, covered, as usual, with ripe grass. We followed across this 
tract for about twenty miles, with no general deviation of our 
course, but without finding water. In search of this, we pushed 
on vigorously till night set in, when it became intensely dark, 
and we were in danger of being precipitated, at every step, 
into some hole, or down some precipice. Darkness, in a prai- 
rie, places the traveller in the position of a ship at sea, without 
a compass ; to go on, or to stop, seems equally perilous. For 



106 SAGACITY OF THE EEAVER. 

some two hours we groped our way in this manner, when one 
of the guides shouted that he had found a standing pool. 
Meantime, it had become excessively dark. The atmosphere 
•was clouded over, and threatened rain. On reaching the pool, 
there was no wood to be found, and we were compelled to en- 
camp without a fire, and laid down supperless, tired, and cold. 

My guides were hardy, rough fellows, and did not mind these 
omissions of meals for a day together, and had often, as now, 
slept without camp-fires at night. As the object seemed to be 
a trial of endurance, I resolved not to compromit myself by 
appearing a whit less hardy than they did, and uttered not a 
word that might even shadow forth complaint. This was, how- 
ever, a cold and cheerless spot at best, with the wide prairie 
for a pillow, and black clouds, dropping rain, for a covering. 

The next morning, as soon as it was at all light, we followed 
down the dry gorge in which we had lain, to Findley's Fork — 
a rich and -well-timbered valley, which we descended about five 
miles. As we rode along through an open forest, soon after 
entering this valley, we observed the traces of the work of the 
beaver, and stopped to view a stately tree, of the walnut spe- 
cies, which had been partially gnawed off by these animals. 
This tree was probably eighteen or twenty inches in diameter, 
and fifty feet high. The animals had gnawed a ring around 
it, but abandoned their work. It had afterwards been under- 
mined by the freshets of the stream, and had fallen. "Was it 
too hard a work ? If so, it would seem that some instinct akin 
to reason came to their aid, in leading them to give up their 
essay. 

There was now every appearance of a change of weather. 
It was cold, and a wintry breeze chilled our limbs. I thought 
my blood was as warm as that of my guides, however, and rode 
on cheerfully. At length. Holt and Fisher, of their own mo- 
tion, stopped to kindle a fire, and take breakfast. We had 
still plenty of fresh venison, which we roasted, as each liked, 
on spits. Thus warmed and refreshed, we continued down the 
valley, evidently in a better philosophical mood ; for a man 
always reasons better, and looks more beneficently about him, 
this side of starvation. 



A REMARKABLE CAVERN. 107 

I observed a small stream of pure water coming in on the north 
side, -whicli issued through an opening in the hills ; and as this 
ran in the general direction we were pursuing, the guides led 
up it. We were soon enclosed in a lateral valley, with high 
corresponding hills, as if, in remote ages, they had been united. 
Very soon it became evident that this defile was closed across 
and in front of us. As we came near this barrier, it was found 
that it blocked up the whole valley, with the exception of the 
mouth of a gigantic cave. The great width and height of this 
cave, and its precipitous face, gave it very much the appear- 
ance of some ruinous arch, out of proportion. It stretched 
from hill to hill. The limpid brook we had been following, ran 
from its mouth. On entering it, the first feeling was that of 
being in "a large place." There was no measure for the eye 
to compute height or width. We seemed suddenly to be be- 
holding some secret of the great works of nature, which had 
been hid from the foundation of the world. The impulse, on 
these occasions, is to shout. I called it Winoca.* On ad- 
vancing, we beheld an immense natural vase, filled with pure 
water. This vase was formed from concretions of carbonate 
of lime, of the nature of stalagmite, or, rather, stalactite. It 
was greyish-white and translucent, filling the entire breadth of 
the cave. But, what was still more imposing, another vase, 
of similar construction, was formed on the next ascending pla- 
teau of the floor of the cave. The water flowed over the lips 
of this vase into the one below. The calcareous deposit seems 
to have commenced at the surface of the water, which, conti- 
nually flowing over the rims of each vase, increases the 
deposit. 

The height of the lower vase is about five feet, which is 
inferable by our standing by it, and looking over the rim into 
the limpid basin. The rim is about two and a half inches thick. 
Etruscan artists could not have formed a more singular set of 
capacious vases. 

The stream of water that supplies these curious tanks, rushes 
with velocity from the upper part of the cavern. The bottom 

* From the Osage word for an underground spirit. 



108 GEOLOGICAL CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. 

of the cave is strewed with small and round calcareous concre- 
tions, about the size of ounce balls, of the same nature with 
the vases. They are in the condition of stalagmites. These 
concretions are opaque, and appear to have been formed from 
the impregnated waters percolating from the roof of the cavern. 
There are evidences of nitric salts in small crevices. Geolo- 
gically, the cavern is in the horizontal limestone, which is 
evidently metalliferous. It is the same calcareous formation 
which characterizes the whole Ozark range. Ores of lead (the 
sulphurets) were found in the stratum in the bed of a stream, 
at no great distance north of this cave ; and its exploration for 
its mineral wealth is believed to be an object of practical 
importance. 

I had now followed the geological formation of the country 
far south-westwardly. The relative position of the calcareous, 
lead-bearing stratum, had everywhere been the same, when not 
disturbed or displaced. Wide areas on the sources of the Ma- 
ramec, Gasconade, and Osage, and also of the Currents, Spring 
river, and Elevenpoints and Strawberry, were found covered 
by heavy drift, which concealed the rock ; but wherever valleys 
had been cut through the formation by the stream, and the 
strata laid bare, they disclosed the same horizontality of de- 
posit, and the same relative position of limestone and sand- 
stone rock. 



CHAPTER X. 

DEPART FROM THE CAVE CHARACTER OF THE HUNTERS WHO 

GUIDED THE AUTHOR INCIDENTS OF THE ROUTE — A BEAUTIFUL 

AND FERTILE dOUNTRY, ABOUNDING IN GAME — REACH THE EX- 
TREME NORTH-WESTERN SOURCE OP WHITE RIVER — DISCOVERIES 
OF LEAD-ORE IN A PART OP ITS BED — ENCAMP AND INVESTI- 
GATE ITS MINERALOGY CHARACTER, VALUE, AND HISTORY OP 

THE COUNTRY — PROBABILITY OF ITS HAVING BEEN TRAVERSED 
BY DE SOTO IN 1541. 

It was the last day of the year 1818, when we reached the 
cave of Winoca, as described in the preceding chapter, on the 
Ozark summit. An inspection of the country had shown the 
fact that the mineral developments of its underlying rocks were 
of a valuable character, while the surface assumed the most 
pleasing aspect, and the soil, wherever examined, appeared to 
be of the very richest quality. The bold, rough hunters, who 
accompanied me, thought of the country only as an attractive 
game country, which it was a great pity, they said, that the 
Indians alone should occupy ; and they had very little curi- 
osity about anything that did not minister to their imme- 
diate wants. They had lived for so long a time by the 
rifle, that they had a philosophy of the rifle. It was the ready 
arbiter between themselves, and the animal creation, and the 
Indians, and even other hunters. Neither the striking agri- 
cultural or mineral resources of the country, arrested much 
attention on their part. And as soon as I was ready to relin- 
quish my examinations at the cave and proceed, they were ready 
to resume their horses and lead forward. Unfortunately, it 
was now severely cold, and everything in the heavens prognos- 
ticated its increasing severity. 

10 (109) 



110 SEVERE COLD. 

On leaving the Valley of the Cave, and ascending the hills 
that environed it, we passed over a gently sloping surface of 
hill and vale, partly covered with forest trees, and partly in 
prairies. I have seldom seen a more beautiful prospect. The 
various species of oaks and hickories had strewed the woods 
with their fruits, on which the bear and wild turkey revelled, 
while the red deer was scarcely ever out of sight. Long before 
the hour of encampment had arrived, the hunters had secured 
the means of our making a sumptuous evening meal on wild 
viands ; and when, at an early hour, we pitched our camp on 
the borders of a small brook. Holt, who was ever ready with 
the rifle, added a fat brandt from this brook to our stores. We 
had not travelled more than twelve miles, but we hud a sharp 
wind to face, the day being severe ; and nothing was so agree- 
able, when we halted, as the fire, around which we enjoyed 
ourselves, as we each displayed our skill in forest cookery. 
There was cutting, and carving, and roasting, in the true 
prairie style. We then prepared our couches and night-fires, 
and slept. At the earliest peep of light, we were again in 
motion. 

The 1st of January, 1819, opened with a degree of cold 
unusual in these regions. Their elevation is, indeed, consider- 
able ; but the wind swept with a cutting force across the 
open prairies. We were now on the principal north-western 
source of White river, the channel of which we forded in the 
distance of two miles. The western banks presented a naked 
prairie, covered with dry grass and autumnal Aveeds, with here 
and there a tree. We pushed on towards the north-east. The 
prairie-hen, notwithstanding the cold, rose up in flocks before 
us, as we intruded upon their low-couched positions in the 
grass. Of these. Holt, whose hunting propensities no cold 
could restrain, obtained a specimen ; he also fired at and killed 
a wild goose from the channel of the river. On passing about 
four miles up the western banks of the stream, we observed a 
lead of lead-ore, glittering through the water in the bed of the 
river, and determined to encamp at this spot, for the purpose 
of investigating the mineral appearances. The weather was 
piercingly cold. We found some old Indian camps near at hand, 



CONSTRUCT A LEAD-FURNACE. Ill 

and procured from them pieces of bark to sheath a few poles 
and stakes, hastily put up, to form a shelter from the wind. A 
fire was soon kindled, and, while we cooked and partook of a 
forest breakfast, we recounted the incidents of the morning, 
not omitting the untoward state of the weather. When the 
labor of building the shanty was completed, I hastened to 
explore the geological indications of the vicinity. 

The ore which had attracted our notice in the bed of the 
stream, existed in lumps, which presented bright surfaces where 
the force of the current had impelled its loose stony materials 
over them. It was a pure sulphuret of lead, breaking in cubi- 
cal lines. I also observed some pieces of hornblende. It was 
not easy to determine tjie original width of the bed of ore. Its 
course is across the stream, into the banks of red marly clay 
on which we had encamped. Its geological position is in every 
respect similar to the metalliferous deposits at Potosi, except 
that there were no spars, calcareous or barytic, in sight, I 
gathered, in a few minutes, a sufficient number of specimens 
of the ore for examination, and employed myself in erecting, 
on the banks of the river, a small furnace, of the kind called 
"log-furnace" in Missouri, to test its fusibility. In the mean 
time, my New England companion took a survey of the sur- 
rounding country, which he pronounced one of the most fertile, 
and admirably adapted to every purpose of agriculture. Much 
of the land consists of prairie, into which the plough can be 
immediately put. The forests and groves, which are inter- 
spersed with a park-like beauty through these prairies, consist 
of various species of oaks, maple, white and black walnut, elm, 
mulberry, hackberry, and sycamore. 

Holt and Fisher scanned the country for game, and returned 
to camp with six turkeys and a wolf. Their fear of the Osages 
had been only apparently subdued. They had been constantly 
on the look-out for signs of Indian enemies, and had their 
minds always filled with notions of hovering Osages and Paw- 
nees. The day was wintry, and the weather variable. It 
commenced snowing at daylight, and continued till about eight 
o'clock, A. M. It then became clear, and remained so, with 
occasional flickerings, until two o'clock, when a fixed snow- 



112 FERTILE COUNTRY. 

storm sat in, and drove me from my little unfinished furnace, 
bringing in the hunters also from the prairies, and confining 
us strictly to our camp. This storm continued, without miti- 
gation, nearly all night. i 

Jan. 3d. The snow ceased before sunrise, leaving the country 
wrapped in a white mantle. The morning was cold ; the river 
began to freeze about nine o'clock, and continued till it was 
closed. The weather afforded an opportunity for continuing 
the explorations and examinations commenced yesterday. I 
found that the red clay afforded a good material for laying the 
stones of my lead-furnace, and continued working at it for a 
part of the day. The hunters came in with the carcases of 
two deer, and the skin of a black wolf. Except in its color, I 
could not distinguish any permanent characteristics in the lat- 
ter difiering from the large grey wolf, or coyote. Its claws, 
snout, and ears, were the same — its tail, perhaps, a little more 
bushy. The size of this animal, judging from the skin, must 
have been double that of the little prau-ie-wolf, or myeengun 
of the Indians of the North. 

I found the bed of the stream, where it permitted examina- 
tion, to be non-crystalline limestone, in horizontal beds, corre- 
sponding to the formation observed in the cave of Winoca. Its 
mineral constituents were much the same. The country is one 
that must be valuable hereafter for its fertility and resources. 
The prairies which extend west of the river are the most ex- 
tensive, rich, and beautiful, of any which I have yet seen west 
of the Mississippi. They are covered with a most vigorous 
growth of grass. The deer and elk abound in this quarter, and 
the buffalo is yet occasionally seen. The soil in the river valley 
is a rich black alluvion. The trees are often of an immense 
height, denoting strength of soil. It will probably be found 
adapted to corn, flax, hemp, wheat, oats, and potatoes ; while 
its mining resources must come in as one of the elements of its 
future prosperity. 

I planted some peach-stones in a fertile spot near our camp, 
where the growth of the sumac denoted unusual fertility. And 
it is worthy of remark that even Holt, who had the antipathy 



THE OZARK RANGE. 113 

of an Indian to agriculture, actually cut some bushes in a cer- 
tain spot, near a spring, and piled them into a heap, by way 
of securing a pre-emption right to the soil. 

The region of the Ozark range of mountain-development is 
one of singular features, and no small attractions. It exhibits 
a vast and elevated tract of horizontal and sedimentary strata, 
extending for hundreds of miles north and south. This range 
is broken up into high cliffs, often wonderful to behold, which 
form the enclosing walls of river valleys. The Arkansas itself 
forces its way through, about the centre of the range. The 
Washita marks its southern boundary. The St. Francis and 
the Maramec, at the mouth of the former of which De Soto 
landed, constitute its northern limits. The junction of the 
Missouri with the Mississippi may be said to be its extreme 
northern development. The Missouri, from the influx of the 
Osage, is pushed northward by the Ozark range. It rests, on 
the south, upon the primitive granites, slates, and quartz rock, 
of Washita. The celebrated Hot Springs issue from it. The 
long-noted mines of Missouri, which once set opinion in France 
in a blaze, extend from its north-eastern flanks. The primitive 
sienites and hornblende rock of the sources of the St. Francis 
and Grand rivers, support it. The Unica or White river, the 
Strawberry, Spring river, Currents and Black rivers, descend 
from it, and join the Mississippi. The Great and Little Osage, 
and the Gasconage, flow into the Missouri. The great plains, 
and sand-desert, which stretches at the eastern foot of the 
Rocky mountains, lie west of it. It is not less than two hun- 
dred miles in breadth. No part of the central regions of the 
Mississippi valley exhibits such a variety in its geological con- 
stituents, or such a striking mineralogical development. Its 
bodies of the ore of iron called iron-glance, are unparalleled. 
These are particularly developed in the locality called Iron 
Mountain, or the sources of the St. Francis. Its ores of lead, 
zinc, antimony, and manganese, are remarkable. Its lime- 
stones abound in caves yielding nitre. Salt and gypsum are 
found in the plains on its western borders. Its large blocks 
of quartz rock, which are found north of the Arkansas river, 
particularly scattered over the formations crossing the Little 
10* H 



114 ROUTE OF DE SOTO. 

Bed, Buffalo, and White rivers, about the Buffalo shoals, fur- 
nish indications of the diluvial gold deposit, -which would justify 
future examination. 

Through these alpine ranges De Soto roved, with his chival- 
rous and untiring army, making an outward and inward expe- 
dition into regions which must have presented unwonted hard- 
ships and discouragements to the march of troops. To add to 
these natural obstacles, he found himself opposed by fierce 
savage tribes, who rushed upon him from every glen and defile, 
and met him in the open grounds with the most savage energy, 
His own health finally sank under these fatigues ; and it is 
certain that, after his death, his successor in the command, 
Moscoso, once more marched entirely through the southern 
Ozarks, and reached the buffalo plains beyond them. Such 
energy and feats of daring had never before been displayed in 
North America ; and the wonder is at its highest, after behold- 
ing the wild and rough mountains, cliffs, glens, and torrents, 
over which the actual marches must have laid. 

Some of the names of the Indian tribes encountered by him, 
furnish conclusive evidence that the principal tribes of the 
country, although they have changed their particular locations 
since the year 1542, still occupy the region. Thus, the Kapa- 
has, who then lived on the Mississippi, above the St. Francis, 
are identical with the Quappas, the Cayas with the Kanzas, 
and the Quipana with the Pawnees. 



CHAPTER XI. 

SEVERE WINTER WEATHER ON THE SUMMIT OF THE OZARKS — 

FALSE ALARM OF INDIANS DANGER OF MY FURNACE, ETC., 

BEING HEREAFTER TAKEN FOR ANTIQUITIES — PROCEED SOUTH 

ANIMAL TRACKS IN THE SNOW — WINOCA OR SPIRIT VALLEY 

HONEY AND THE HONEY-BEE — BUFFALO-BULL CREEK — ROBE 

OP SNOW — MEHAUSCA VALLEY — SUPERSTITIOUS EXPERIMENT OP 
THE HUNTERS — ARRIVE AT BEAVER CREEK. 

The indications of severe weather, noticed during the last 
day of December, and the beginning of January, were not de- 
ceptive ; every day served to realize them. We had no ther- 
mometer ; but our feelings denoted an intense degree of cold. 
The winds were fierce and sharp, and snow fell during a part 
of each day and night that we remained on these elevations. 
We wrapped our garments closely about us at night, in front 
of large fires, and ran alternately the risk of being frozen and 
burnt. One night my overcoat was in a blaze from lying too 
near the fire. This severity served to increase the labor of our 
examinations ; but it did not, that I am aware, prevent any- 
thing essential. 

On the fourth day of my sojourn here, a snow-storm began, 
a little before one o'clock in the morning ; it ceased, or, as the 
local phrase is, "held up," at daybreak. The ground was now 
covered, to a depth of from two to three inches, with a white 
mantle. Such severity had never been known by the hunters. 
The winds whistled over the bleak prairies with a rigor which 
would have been remarkable in high northern latitudes. The 
river froze entirely over. The sun, however, shone out clearly 
as the day advanced, and enabled me to complete my examina- 

(115) 



116 FALSE AL^RM. 

tions, as fully as it -was practicable to do, under tlie existing 
state of the weather. 

It happened, on this day, that my companion had walked a 
mile or two west, over the smooth prairie, to get a better view 
of the conformation of the land, returning to camp before the 
hunters, who had also gone in the same general direction. On 
their coming back, one of them, whose head was always full of 
hostile Osages, fell on his returning track in the snow, and 
carefully traced it to our camp. He came in breathless, and 
declared that the Osages were upon us, and that not a moment 
was to be lost in breaking up our camp, and flying to a place 
of security. When informed of the origin of the tracks, he 
still seemed incredulous, and could not be pacified without some 
difficulty. We then prepared, by collecting fuel, and increas- 
ing our bark defences against, the wind and snow, to pass 
another night at the camp. 

I had now followed the Ozarks as far as it seemed practica- 
ble, and reached their W'CStei'n summit, notwithstanding every 
discouragement thrown in my way by the reports of the hunt- 
ers, from the first moment of my striking the White river ; 
having visited the source of nearly every river which flows from 
it, both into the Missouri and the Mississippi. I had fully 
satisfied myself of its physical character and resources, and 
now determined to return to the camps of my guides at Beaver 
creek, and continue the exploration south. 

It was the 5th of January, 1819, when we prepared our last 
meal at that camp, and I carefully put up my packages in such 
portable shape as might be necessary. Some time was spent 
in looking up the horses, which had been turned into a neigh- 
boring canebrake. The interval was employed in cutting our 
names, with the date of our visit, on a contiguous oak, which 
had been previously blazed for the purpose. These evidences 
of our visit were left, with the pit dug in search of ore, and 
the small smelting- furnace, which, it is hoped, no zealous anti- 
quarian will hereafter mistake for monuments of an elder 
period of civilization in the Mississippi valley. When this was 
accomplished, and the horses brought up, we set out with ala- 
crity. The snow still formed a thin covering on the ground, 



HONEY IN THE WILDERNESS. 117 

and, being a little softened by the sun, the whole surface of the 
country exhibited a singular map of the tracks of quadrupeds 
and birds. In these, deer, elk, bears, wolves, and turkeys, 
were prominent — the first and last species, conspicuously so. 
In some places, the dry spots on the leaves showed where the 
deer had lain during the storm. These resting-spots were 
uniformly on declivities, which sheltered the animal from the 
force of the wind. Frequently we crossed wolf-trails in the 
snow, and, in one or two instances, observed places where they 
had played or fought with each other, like a pack of dogs — 
the snow being tramped down in a circle of great extent. We 
also passed tracts of many acres, where the turkeys had 
scratched up the snow, in search of acorns. We frequently 
saw the deer fly before us, in droves of tAventy or thirty. They 
will bound twenty feet at a leap, as measured, on a gentle de- 
clivity. This animal is impelled by a fatal curiosity to stop 
and turn round to look at the cause of its disturbance, after 
running a distance. It is at this moment that the hunter 
generally fires. 

About noon, we reached and crossed Findley's Fork, or the 
Winoca valley — the locality of the cave. Two miles south of 
it, in ascending an elevation, our ears were saluted by a mur- 
muring sound in the air, which the hunters declared to be 
single bees, flying in a line. I observed one of them directing 
its flight to the top of a large oak, which was thus indicated 
as the repository of their honey. My companion and myself 
proceeded to chop it down, while the hunters stood by. It was 
of the white-oak species, and was judged to be two feet and a 
half across. When it fell, a hollow limb was fractured, dis- 
closing a large deposit of most beautiful white honeycombs. 
We ate without stint, sometimes dipping cooked pieces of veni- 
son (we had no bread) in the fluid part. The remainder was 
then wrapped up in a freshly flayed deerskin, and firmly tied, 
to be carried to the hunters' cabins at Beaver creek on one of 
the horses. 

We now resumed our route. As evening approached, we 
entered the head of a valley formed out of the plain, toward 
our right. It turned out to be a stream known to them, in 



118 LOSE OUR WAY. 

their biiifalo hunts, as Bull creek. Here we encamped, having 
travelled about twenty miles. The weather continued mode- 
rately cold during the day, the sun not having attained suffi- 
cient power to melt the snow. A single deer was the trophy 
of this day's hunt. 

Mornincr found us, as we arose from our couches, in a small, 
brushy, and tangled valley, through which it was not easy to 
make our way. The weather was raw, cold, and lowering, and 
the hunters did not seem inclined to make an early start. It 
was determined to replenish our fire, and breakfast, first. It 
was a rough region, and cost some exertion and fatigue to get 
out of its tangled defiles, and ascend the plains south of it. 
These impediments consumed so much time, that we made but 
slow progress. The atmosphere was so obscure, that it was 
difficult to determine the proper course ; and it was evident 
that the guides did not know exactly where they were. At 
length they entered one of the lateral valleys of Swan creek, 
the Mehausca of the Osages. In this, after following it down 
some distance, we encamped. The atmosphere was clouded 
up, and betokened falling weather. 

The next morning, (Jan. 7th), when I awoke, I felt an extra 
pressure of something on my blanket, which had the effect to 
keep off the wind, and produce warmth ; and on opening its 
folds, I threw off a stratum of an inch or two of snow. We 
had been fatigued by the day's march, and slept soundly. 

Some eight miles' travel brought us to the junction of this 
little tributary with the Mehausca, where our guides, by recog- 
nizing known objects, reassured themselves of their true posi- 
tion. It was, however, still hazy and obscure, and doubts soon 
attain arose in their minds as to the proper course. After 
travelling some miles in this perplexity, they were at length 
relieved by obsei'ving a known landmark in the peak of Bald 
hill. This mark was, however, soon lost sight of, and, the 
atmosphere still continuing overclouded, dark, and hazy, they 
speedily became again bewildered. I was surprised at this ; it 
denoted a want of precision of observation, which an Indian 
certainly could not have been charged with. He is able, in 
the worst weather, to distinguish the north from the south face 



ARRIVE AT BEAVER CREEK. 119 

of a mature and weathered tree — a species of knowledge, of 
the utmost consequence to him in his forest wanderings. 

An experiment, of letting a certain horse take his course 
homeward, by throwing the reins upon his neck, was adopted 
by our guides ; but after trying it for some time, it was found 
necessary to give it up. It was clear that the animal was 
going directly from home ; and Fisher, who believed in be- 
witched guns, was obliged to yield the point. Not long after 
resuming the reins, Holt announced, in the dense atmosphere 
which enveloped us, that we were ascending the valley hills 
that border the main channel of White river. As soon as this 
was verified, and we had reached the highest point, the guides 
both fired their rifles, to advertise their families, on the bot- 
tom-lands below, of their approach ; and ^e were soon wel- 
comed, at the hunters' cabins at the mouth of Beaver creek, 
"by dogs, women, and children, all greasy and glad." 

During this trip, I had listened to frequent recitals of the 
details of hunting the bear, beaver, deer, and other animals, 
the quality of dogs, the secret of baits, &c. — a species of forest 
lectures, the details of which, at the moment, were new to me, 
and had the charm of novelty, and the merit of information ; 
but which it is unimportant, at this length of time, to repeat.* 

* Vide Journal of a Tour into the Interior of Missouri and Arkansas. 
London, 1821. 



CHAPTER XII. 

DESCEND WHITE RIVER IN A CANOE — ITS PURE WATER, CHARAC- 
TER, AND SCENERY — PLACES OF STOPPING — BEAR CREEK 

SUGAR-LOAF PRAIRIE — BIG CREEK A RIVER PEDLAR — POT 

SHOALS — MOUTH OF LITTLE NORTH FORK — DESCEND FORMIDA- 
BLE RAPIDS, CALLED THE BULL SHOALS STRANDED ON ROCKS 

— A PATRIARCH PIONEER — MINERALOGY — ANTIQUE POTTERY 

AND BONES — SOME TRACE OF DE SOTO A TRIP BY LAND — 

REACH THE MOUTH OF THE GREAT NORTH FORK. 

I DETERMINED to descend the river from the hunters' cabins 
at Beaver creek, being the highest location to which a pioneer 
hunting population had pushed, and with this view purchased 
a large and new canoe, of about twenty feet in length, from 
the enterprising hunters. Putting into this such articles from 
our former packs as were deemed necessary, and some provi- 
sions, I took the bow, with a long and smooth pole to guide it 
in rapids and shoals, and gave the stern to my companion, with 
a steering-paddle. It was now the 9th of January. Bidding 
adieu to our rough, but kind and friendly guides, we pushed 
into the stream, and found ourselves floating, with little exer- 
tion, at the rate of from three to four miles per hour. The 
very change from traversing weary plains and prairies, and 
ascending steep cliffs, was exhilarating and delightful. 

White river is one of the most beautiful and enchanting 
streams, and by far the most transparent, which discharge their 
waters into the Mississippi. To a width and depth which entitle 
it to be classed as a river of the third magnitude in Western 
America, it unites a current which possesses the purity of 
crystal, with a smooth and gentle flow, and the most imposing, 
diversified, and delightful scenery. Objects can be clearly 

(120) 



WHITE RIVER — ITS SCENERY. 121 

seen in it, througli the water, at the greatest depths. Every 
pebble, rock, fish, or shell, even the minutest body which occu- 
pies the bottom of the stream, is seen with the most perfect 
distinctness ; and the canoe, when looking under it, seemed, 
from the remarkable transparency of the water, to be sus- 
pended in air. The Indians, observing this peculiarity, called 
it Unica, which is the transitive form of white. The French 
of Louisiana merely translated this term to la riviere au 
Blanc. It is, in fact, composed of tributaries which gush up 
in large crystal springs out of the Ozark range of mountains, 
and it does not receive a discoloured tributary in all its upper 
course. These gigantic springs, which are themselves a curi- 
osity, originate in the calcareous or sandstone strata of that 
remarkable chain, and are overlaid by a heavy oceanic deposit 
of limestone, quartz, hornstone, and chert pebbles, which serve 
as a filtering-bed to the upspringing waters. Sometimes these 
pebbles are found to be jasper, of a beautiful quality. 

The scenery of its shores is also peculiar. Most frequently 
the limestone, which has been subjected to the destructive 
power of the elements, is worn into pinnacles of curious spiral 
shapes. Where the river washes the base of these formations, 
a high and precipitous wall of rock casts its shadow over the 
water. On the shores opposite to such precipices, there is 
invariably a rich diluvial plain, covered by a vigorous forest 
of trees, clothed in all the graceful luxuriance of a summer 
foliage. 

If the shores be examined to any distance inland, the calca- 
reous rock is found to exhibit frequent caverns, where the per- 
colation of the water^ has produced stalactites of beautiful 
forms, or the concretions are spread upon the floors of these 
caves in curious masses. 

Often, upon the shores, we observed the graceful doe. At 
early hours in the morning, the wild turkeys appeared in large 
flocks, with their plumage glistening in the light. The duck, 
goose, and brant, often rose up before us, and lighted in the 
stream again below us ; and we thus drove them, without 
intending it, for miles. Sometimes, perched on some high 
pinnacle or towering tree, the eagle, hawk, or heron, surveyed 

n 



122 AN OLD PIONEER. 

our descent, as if it were an intrusion upon their long undis- 
turbed domain. 

A few miles below our point of embarkation, we passed, on 
the left shore, a precipitous wall of calcareous rock, on the 
summit of which I observed the location of the cavern, into 
the mouth of which I descended some twenty or thirty feet, on 
my outward journey ; and it now seemed probable that the 
ramifications which I saw by the dim light admitted, were of 
an extensive cliaracter. 

As the shades of night overtook us, a hunter's cabin was 
descried on the left shore, where a landing was made. It 
proved to be occupied by a person of the name of Yochem, who 
readily gave us permission to remain for the night. He told 
us we had descended thirty miles. He regaled us hospitably 
with wild viands, and, among other meats, the beaver's tail — a 
dish for epicures. 

Resuming the descent at an early hour, a couple of miles 
brought us to the inlet of Bear creek — a stream coming in on 
the right side, which is described as long, narrow, and crooked. 
Nothing denoted that man had ever made his residence along 
this part of the stream. We floated on charmingly. At every 
turn, some novel combination of scenery presented itself. As 
evening drew near, a hunter's cabin appeared on our right, 
and, a coujale of miles further, another on our left, near one 
of those natural monuments of denudation common to the lime- 
stone of this river, which is called the Sugar-loaf. We stopped 
for the night at this habitation, and found it to be occupied by 
a Mr. Coker. The old man received us with the usual frank 
and friendly air and manner of a hunter. More than fifty 
years must have marked his frontier pilgrimage on its con- 
stantly shifting boundary. He stood some six feet three in 
height, was erect and thin, and looked like one of the patriarchs 
of the woods, who, cherishing his personal independence and 
Lis rifle, had ever relied upon his own arm for a support, and 
distrusted nothing on earth half so much as Indians. In his 
view, the Osages were the perfection of robbers; and he con- 
gratulated us on getting out of their country with our scalps 
safely on our heads, and our "plunder" (a common word here 



THE POT SHOALS. 123 

for baggage) untoucliecL It appeared from his estimates that 
•we had descended the river twenty-five miles. 

Rain fell copiously during the night ; hut it ceased before 
daylight (11th), by the earliest gleams of which we were again 
in motion, descending the pellucid river. At the computed 
distance of sixteen miles, we passed the mouth of Big river, a 
considerable stream on the left banks, where I halted a few 
moments to see a new location which had just been commenced. 
A small clearing had been made in the dense canebrake, and a 
log house commenced. Shortly below this spot, we encountered 
a river pedlar, ascending the stream with his commodities in a 
canoe. On conversing with him, I found his knowledge of 
affairs very local and partial. Of the outer world, and of its 
news, he knew nothing. 

At every stage of our progress, the river was increasing in 
its volume ; and, soon after this occurrence, we observed its 
velocity accelerated, and almost imperceptibly found ourselves 
gliding rapidly over the Pot Shoals. This rapid appeared less 
formidable than had been anticipated. I rose up to observe 
the draught of the current, and, by a few strokes of the pole, 
kept the canoe in the force of the stream. About seven miles 
below these shoals, and just as evening closed in, a house ap- 
peared on the left shore. It proved to be M'Garey's, at whose 
domicile we had originally struck on crossing the wilderness 
from Potosi. He was glad to hail our return from a region, 
against the Indian occupants of which, he had decidedly warned 
us on our outward trip, but from whom we had fortunately 
received no injury. lie informed us that we had this day 
descended the river forty miles, that being the received distance 
to Sugar-loaf Prairie. 

Vife Viere indeed cordially received as old acquaintances, and 
congratulated on our perseverance in visiting a region where 
Indian hostility w^as so much to be dreaded. On learning that 
the Osages had retired west, and that the country abounded in 
game, one of the sons of our host prepared to push into that 
region. M'Garey told us that he had delivered "Butcher," 
agreeably to our order,' to Holt; but the latter, on travelling 
a day's journey toward Beaver creek, had found him too feeble 



124 A PERILOUS SITUATION. 

to proceed, and, after taking off his shoes, had abandoned him 
to the wolves. Sad emblem of the fate of persons who have 
served great men, till they have reached some pinnacle where 
the service is forgotten, because no longer necessary ! 

Nearly opposite, but a little below this cabin, we passed, on 
the 12th, the mouth of the Little North Fork ; a stream origi- 
nating in a broken region on the left bank, and having some 
alluvions at its mouth. Evidences of habitation became more 
frequent below the Little North Fork, which caused me to 
cease noting their succession in my journal. 

Nothing of special interest occurred to mark the day's pro- 
gress, till we reached, at an advanced hour in the afternoon, 
the Bull shoals. At this formidable rapid, the river probably 
sinks its level fifteen or twenty feet in the space of half a 
mile. Masses of limestone rock stand up in the bed of the 
river, and create several channels. Between these the river 
foams and roars. When I arose in the canoe to take a view 
of the rapid into which we were about to plunge, the bed of 
the stream appeared to be a perfect sheet of foam, whirling 
and rushing with great force and tumult. As I knew not the 
proper channel, and it was too late to withdraw, the only step 
left was to keep the canoe headed, and down we went most 
rapidly. Very soon the canoe leaped on a round rock, driving 
on it with great force, and veered about crosswise. In an 
instant I jumped into the water at the bows, while my compa- 
nion did the same at the stern, and, by main force, we lifted it 
over the ledge, got in quickly, and again headed it properly. 
We were, emphatically, in the midst of roaring rapids ; their 
very noise was deafening. The canoe had probably got down 
six hundred yards, when a similar difficulty occurred, at the 
head of a second shute or bench of rocks, reaching across the 
river. In an instant, it again struck. It was obviated by 
getting into the water, in the same way as on the first occa- 
sion; only, however, to put our strength and skill to. the test 
a third time, after which we shot down to the foot of the rapids 
safely. We had managed neither to ship water, nor to lose a 
piece of baggage. We were, however, thoroughly wetted, but 
kept our position in the canoe for five miles below the rapid, 



ANTIQUITIES — SOME TRACE OF DE SOTO. 125 

bringing us to the head of Friend's settlement. We landed, 
at a rather early hour in the evening, at a log building on the 
left shore, where we were hospitably received by Teen Friend, 
a man of mature age and stately air, the patriarch of the 
settlement. It was of him that we had heard stories of Osage 
captivity and cruelty, having visited one of the very valleys 
where he was kept in "durance vile." 

The antiquities and mineral appearances in that vicinity 
were represented as worthy of examination ; in consequence 
of which, I devoted a part of the next day (13th) to these 
objects. The neighboring hills consist of stratified limestone. 
The surface of the soil exhibits some fragments of hornstone 
and radiated quartz, with indications of iron-ore. At the 
shoals, traces of galena and calcareous spar occui". 

Mr. Friend, being familiar from personal observation with 
the geography and resources of the country at large, states 
that rock-salt is found between the south fork of White river 
and the Arkansas, where the Pawnees and Osages make use 
of it. It is presumed that this salt consists of crystalline 
masses from the evaporation of saline water. He represents 
the lead-ores on its north-western source, which we had par- 
tially explored, as very extensive. 

If, as is probable, De Soto ranged over these regions in his 
extensive marches between the St. Francis and Arkansas, his 
exploratory parties may have reached the locality of crystal- 
line salt referred to, and he would have found the buffalo in 
several positions east of that place. 

The antiquarian objects to which my attention was called, 
afforded the greatest degree of interest. They consisted of 
pieces of earthenware, some antique fragments of bone, and a 
metallic alloy, resting in a substance resembling ashes, and 
also arrow-heads. The metallic alloy, of which Mr. F. gave 
me a specimen, resembles a combination of lead and tin. But 
what adds to the interest attending the discovery of these 
articles, is the fact, that they lie, apparently, below the diluvial 
deposits, bearing a heavy forest, and at the geological line of 
intersection with the consolidated rocks. 

From the apparent vestiges in this quarter, I am of opinion 
11* 



126 NEW ENGLAND PIONEEK. 

that De Soto's "Tanico" must be located in this vicinity, and 
that he crossed the White river near this place. A march 
■west of this point, over a hilly country, would bring him into 
the fertile valley of the Little Red river, or Buffalo creek — 
his probable Tula, where his people first tasted the flesh of this 
animal, and where he recruited his army for a new effort. 

These inquiries occupied the morning. It was late before 
we embarked, and, at some four miles below, we landed on the 
right shore, at a Mr. Zadock Lee's, being the first New Eng- 
lander whom we had met in this region. With him we took 
dinner. He appeared pleased to see us, and conducted me to 
see some antique, white, lirae-like masses, in the earth, near 
the bank of the river, which had the appearance of decayed 
bones. Rumor speaks of some other antiquities in this quarter 
of the country, in the shape of bricks, concealed by the un- 
disturbed soil ; but I saw nothing of this kind. While here, 
Mr. Lee's son returned from the forest with the flesh of the 
bear and buffalo, the fruits of his own prowess in the chase, 
and amused us with an account of his recent exhibition of 
skill in these departments. We embarked and descended the 
river six miles, to a Mr. Jacob Yochem's, who received us 
with hospitality, and added no little, by his conversation, to 
our local lore. 

It was determined, the next morning, (14th,) to loan our 
canoe, which was a capacious, new, and clean vessel, made 
from white-ash, to our host, to enable him to transport his 
hunter products to a market at the mouth of the Great North 
Fork, leaving our baggage to be brought that way. The dis- 
tance by water is thirty-five miles ; by land, probably not 
more than eighteen or twenty. By this step, we avoided the 
dangers of navigating two formidable rapids, called the 
Crooked Creek and Bufi\ilo Shoals ; the former situated fifteen, 
and the latter twenty miles below Yochem's. 

We left our host's at a seasonable hour in the morning, 
taking a good horse-path ; and we walked diligently till near 
dusk, before reaching our destination. We then had the whole 
volume of White river between us and our purposed place of 
lodgment, which was at the residence of a man named Mat- 



JOUKNEY ON FOOT. 127 

ney. It was the only house "within a considerable distance at 
which shelter for the night could be obtained ; and we did not 
hesitate long between the two alternatives presented to us — 
either of lying out in the woods all night, or of fording the 
river, with the depth of which we were not acquainted. "We 
chose the latter, and accordingly prepared for the attempt. 
At the shallowest part we could find, it was about four feet 
deep in the channel ; but we struggled through, and reached 
the house just at nightfall, wet and chilly. We were hospi- 
tably received, and speedily made ourselves comfortable. We 
had been told that the distance was fifteen miles ; but to us, 
who had diligently footed it, it seemed more than twenty. 



~y 



CHAPTER XIII. 

DETENTION AT THE MOUTH OF THE GREAT NORTH FORK — NATU- 
RAL HISTORY OF THE VICINITY — GREAT BLOCKS OF QUARTZ — 
IMPOSING PRECIPICES OF THE CALICO ROCK — A CHARACTERISTIC 
OF AMERICAN SCENERY — CHEROKEE OCCUPANCY OF THE COUN- 
TRY BETWEEN THE WHITE AND ARKANSAS RIVERS — ITS EFFECTS 
ON THE PIONEERS — QUESTION OF THE FATE OF THE INDIAN 
RACES — IRON-ORE — DESCENT TO THE ARKANSAS FERRIES — LEAVE 
THE RIVER AT THIS POINT — REMARKS ON ITS CHARACTER AND 
PRODUCTIONS. 

The canoe had not yet arrived, nor was there any tidings 
of it the next morning ; so that there was no alternative, in 
our present situation, but to wait patiently. I determined to 
improve the delay by exploring the neighborhood. It is a 
geographical point of some importance, being the head of the 
navigation of White river for all large craft ascending from 
the Mississippi. As yet, nothing but keel-boats have ascended. 
Between the point of our embarkation at Beaver creek and 
this spot, the river has a fall of about sixty feet, at four rapids, 
which do not probably extend over a mile or two in the aggre- 
gate. The stream, during the rest of the way, has a fine, 
lively current, seldom of great velocity, and never stagnates. 
The Great North Fork, the scene of our former ramblings, 
enters a short distance below the foot of the Buffalo Shoals, 
rendering the draught of water practicable, it is believed, for 
steamboats at all seasons. 

I found the pebble-stones and boulders on the margin and 
bed of the river, which I leisurely examined, to afford a true 
representation of the formations which had been observed in 
traversing the elevated and broken surface of the Ozarks. 

(128) 



PECULIARITIES OF SCENERY. 129 

They consist of the various limestones and sandstones of the 
region, with a partial mixture of quartz rock, red sienite, horn- 
stone, argillaceous rock, and the peculiar, egg-shaped, coarse 
yellow jasper, which appears to have been imbedded in some 
of its strata. On ascending the cliffs west of the valley, they 
were observed to consist of the characteristic limestone of the 
region, in horizontal layers, the upper strata containing im- 
pressions of shells. Very large angular masses of quartz rock 
lie near the bases of these cliffs. Some of the angles of these 
masses would probably measure fourteen feet. Their position 
here appears to be quite anomalous, as, from the absence of 
attrition, they are clearly not of the erratic block group. 
They appear to indicate a primitive formation near. 

The half hunter, half farmer, to whom we had loaned our 
canoe, came with a number of his companions in the evening, 
and entered on a scene of merriment, to which, as the cabin 
had but one room, we were compelled to be unwilling spectators 
during the livelong night, though, from its character, not par- 
ticipating at all therein. As soon as there was light sufficient 
to discern objects (16th), we embarked, rejoiced to get clear 
of this extraordinary nocturnal scene. About half a mile 
below, we passed the mouth of the Great North Fork, and, 
some five or six miles further, entered and descended a swift 
channel, called the Crooked rapids, where there probably has 
been some slight geological disturbance in the bed of the 
river, observable in very low stages of water. 

At the distance of ten miles more, a sudden turn of the 
river brought us in full sight of the picturesque, elevated, and 
precipitous shore, called the Calico Rock. This presents a 
most imposing facade, on which are observable the imitative 
forms of fantastic architectural devices. The wall is quite 
precipitous throughout. It is the calcareous rock of the region. 
Its summit is overlaid with ochreous clays of various colors, 
which, through the action of the elements, have imparted their 
fanciful hues to portions of the cliff. This abrupt species of 
scenery is quite peculiar to the American landscape. A still 
more imposing section of it is presented in the Pictured Rocks 
of Lake Superior. Nothing of this kind marks the banks of 

I 



130 DISSATISFACTION OF SETTLERS. 

the Rhine, so much eulogized by travellers ; for all its forma- 
tions partake of the parabolic, or curved lines of the primitive, 
and the eye is relieved by these gradations ; but, in the brusque 
scenes of the West, the precipices are as marked as if they 
had been hewn down by some gigantic broad-axe. There are 
some sections, in keeping with these harsh landscapes, on the 
Mississippi, along the Missouri shores — less prominently along 
the Illinois borders, near Alton — and at places in Iowa and 
Wisconsin ; but more characteristic in Minnesota, as the river 
escapes from its primitive plains, and plunges over the falls 
of St. Anthony. We descended about thirty miles this day, 
and found lodgment, at night, at a house on the left bank,, 
occupied by a Mr. Jeflfery. 

The next morning (17th), on descending five miles, we 
stopped at a Mr. Williams's to prepare breakfast, where some 
persons were gathering to hear an itinerant preacher. Twenty 
miles lower, we stopped for the night, at a widow Lafferty's. 

From the remarks made at the places where we have been 
entertained by the hunters and settlers on this river, there is 
considerable dissatisfaction with a treaty* made with the Che- 
rokee Indians, by which a part of that nation are assigned a 
location between the north banks of the Arkansas and the 
south bank of White river. Many of them, including our 
hostess to-night, and the M'Gareys, Lees, and Matneys above, 
have lands in cultivation, with dwelling-houses, stock, and 
improvements, of more or less value, on the south banks of the 
river ; which, as they apprehend, under the operation of this 
treaty, they are to relinquish to the Cherokees. 

The truth is, the first white occupants of the frontiers, 
though generally rough men, and without a title to the lands 
they settle on, are the pioneers of civilization ; and by thus 
taking their lives in their hands, and encountering the perils 
of the wilderness and of Indian hostility, they lay the govern- 
ment under a strong obligation to protect them. The natural 
hatred of races is such, that they are everlastingly on ill terms 

* Treaty of 8th July, 1817. Tide Indian Treaties, p. 209. 



/ 

/ ■ 

REFLECTIONS ON THE FATE OF THE INDIAN. 131 

V 

with the Indians, and the Indians with them. It is difficult to 
say which of the two races, during this period of contact, is 
most suspicious of the other. 

The Indians, also, look up to the government with strong 
claims for justice and protection. The frontier, at the begin- 
ning of the sixteenth century, was on and near the Atlantic 
borders, from Maine to Georgia, and long continued east of 
the Alleghany mountains. It is already west of the Missis- 
sippi river, that mighty geographical highway, which, like a 
longitudinal line, stretches across seventeen degrees of latitude, 
every mile of which will, ere long, be settled and cultivated by 
the Anglo-American race. As the population presses first on 
the Indian's hunting-grounds, and next on his cornfields, he 
flies before the irresistible tide, and takes shelter at some more 
remote western point. But he is hardly well seated on his new 
hunting-grounds — he has hardly begun to reap his new corn- 
fields — when the pioneers of the same race that disturbed him 
before, are upon him ; and again, and again he must fly before 
the resistless — the uncontrollable tide of migration. It is a 
providential reflux in the wave of races. It is something to be 
observed, rather than to be apprehended and understood. It 
seems to say, that the surface of the habitable earth was not 
formed for the permanent occupancy of races who rely on the 
pleasing and exciting uses of the bow and arrow ; and that 
labor, which was, at the first, declared to be the proper condi- 
tion of man, is destined to sweep away, if it cannot merge in 
its on-rush, these erratic and picturesque tribes. Where their 
frontiers will be found, a hundred years hence, the voice of 
history, looking to the past, may only tell ; but this appears 
more appreciable and clear — that the perpetuation of the race 
as one of the elements of mankind, must depend, in the sequel, 
however long that sequel be postponed, on his substantial 
adoption of the principles of industry, letters, and Christianity. 
The " tents of Shem," however we may read the prediction, are 
still to be occupied, if they are not now^, by a broad philanthi'opy, 
to be merged into those of the higher civilization of Japhet. 
For, the civilization and the moral elevation of man is the great 
object of revelation ; and it appears clear, and conformable to 



132 A FANCIED TREASURE. 

reason, that, where future history is taught in the Pentateuch 
by figures, it should be figuratively, and not dogmatically, 
explained. 

On leaving Mrs. Lafferty's, in the morning of the 18th, we 
descended about five miles, and stopped to breakfast at a Mr. 
Jones's. Rumor had pointed out this place as the locality of 
a tin-mine. The frontiersmen are greatly disposed to excite 
each other's imaginations by reports of mines and discoveries, 
every one of which is fancied to be some new Potosi or El 
Dorado. Our host was not backward in bringing to me some 
specimens of his supposed treasure. It consisted of several 
heavy lumps of the ore called, by mineralogists, iron glance. 
It had the usual color, great weight, and high metallic lustre. 
He represented it as occurring, in large bodies, about eight or 
ten miles north of his house, on high lands, at the surface. 

We had proceeded some miles on our way, when a large 
black bear was discovered on the shore. It appeared to be 
about to plunge in for the purpose of crossing the river, when 
our presence alarmed it, and the animal, with its usual clumsy 
gait, betook himself to the woods again. The clumsiness of 
this animal's motions seems to be owing to the bluntness of its 
hind paws, which q.ppear as if, we should suppose, it arose from 
re-curved legs. The Indians laugh at the gait of bruin. We 
had encountered this species several times before, and always, 
as on this occasion, found it disposed to flee. 

Fifteen miles below Jones's cabin, we passed Harden's ferry, 
the house being on the right bank ; and, two miles further on, 
■we passed Morrison's ferry. Continuing our descent eight 
miles lower, we landed at a place called Poke Bayou, where 
we were hospitably received by a Mr. Robert Beam The river 
had now become a magnificent body of water, still clear and 
beautiful. We were here within the boundaries of the Missis- 
sippi alluvions. No highlands are visible for some distance 
before reaching Harden's. The river winds through broad, 
fertile plains, bearing a most vigorous growth of forest trees. 
The banks are elevated some thirty feet above the water, and, 
as the stream increases in depth and strength, they become 



ORIENTAL ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. 133 

subject to be undermined by the flood. The cane, which is 
common to the river in its entire length, even to the highest 
elevations of the Ozarks, is here of a tall and most vigorous 
growth. It is this plant, I apprehend, more than any other 
feature, which gives an oriental cast to these alluvial tracts ; 
and I was almost ready, at some points, where "the growth 
concealed the trunks of the heavy forest, to see the hippopo- 
tamus and elephant display their clumsy forms. For these, 
however, we had the bufiFalo, the cougar, and the bear, whose 
crackling strength, as they passed through these reedy mazes, 
had, on more than one occasion during our rambles, reminded 
us of the great muscular power of these boasted objects of 
hunter skill and enterprise. Often had a fine dog, in the nar- 
rations of the hunters, paid the penalty of coming within the 
stroke of the latter ; and we could sympathise with the loss 
of an animal, which is of the highest value in his pursuits. It 
is due to this class of men to say, that, however rough they 
are in their manners, we were uniformly received by them with 
a frank hospitality, which appears to be always a point of honor 
with them ; nor did any of the number, to whom reward was 
proffered for entertainment, ever condescend to receive a cent 
for anything in the shape of food or lodging. 

The point of our landing was at the crossing of the lower 
Arkansas road. About twelve or fourteen buildings of all/ l^""^ 
sorts were clustered together, forming a small village, which is 
now called Batesville ; being the only one which had been 
encountered since leaving Potosi. 



12 



CHAPTER XIV. 

ANCIENT SPOT OF DE SOTO's CROSSING WHITE RIYER IN 1542 — 
LAMENESS PRODUCED BY A FORMER INJURY — INCIDENTS OF THE 

JOURNEY TO THE ST. FRANCIS RIVER DE SOTO'S ANCIENT 

MARCHES AND ADVENTURES ON THIS RIVER IN THE SEARCH 
AFTER GOLD — FOSSIL SALT— COPPER — THE ANCIENT RANGES OF 
THE BUFFALO. 

I DETERMINED to quit the river at this point, and, after a 
night's rest, made the necessary arrangements. 

There is almost a moral certainty that De Soto must have 
crossed the river above this place. The make of the land, and 
the custom of the Indians in choosing the best ground for a 
path to travel from village to village, would determine this. 
His position, after crossing the Mississippi at the mouth of the 
St. Francis, and reaching the high grounds of the latter, would 
lead the natives who were his guides to keep the elevated and 
dry ranges leading to the buffalo country, west ; and he must 
have crossed the affluents of the Black and Currents rivers at 
a high point towards the Ozarks. The dry and open woods 
afforded the best ground for the march of his cavalry ; and 
when he attempted to reach the salt and buffalo country from 
the region east of White river, the roughness of the country 
would lead him to the central points of that stream. It would 
be interesting, as a point of antiquarian interest, to know 
where the old Indian paths were located. The roads, in all 
parts of the country, were based on these. They led to the 
most practicable fords of rivers, they avoided swamps and 
boggy grounds, and evinced a thorough geographical know- 
ledge of the conformation of the country. 

(134) 



DISABLED BY LAMENESS. 135 

To travel where De Soto had travelled, and where he had 
performed some of his heroic feats, had something pleasing, at 
least, in the association. Doubtless, had the first occupants 
of Upper Louisiana been as mindful of historical reminiscences 
as they were set on repeating his search for gold and silver 
mines, they might have been rewarded by finding some of the 
straggling bones of his broken-down Andalusian cavalry. The 
fragments of broken arms and trappings were yet, perhaps, 
concealed by the accumulated rank vegetable soil of Arkansas 
and Southern Missouri, whence the plough may at no distant 
day reveal them. 

It was ten o'clock on the morning of the 19th, when, having 
made every necessary preparation, we left Mr. Bean's. I 
regretted the necessity of making a selection from my collec- 
tion of minerals and geological specimens. We set out with 
great alacrity. For the first five miles, we passed over a level, 
fertile tract, with several plantations ; the remaining thirteen 
miles were comparatively sterile and uneven, without settle- 
ments. We had passed about seventeen miles of the distance, 
when my right foot and ankle began to flinch. I was not sen- 
sible of any slip or sprain in walking, but rather believe it 
resulted from too much ardour and anxiety to get forward. I 
had, about four years previously, dislocated and injured the 
same ankle in leaping down a precipice in the Green moun- 
tains, having mistaken a granitical shelf of rock at its base, 
which was covered with autumnal leaves, for soft soil. I be- 
lieve the suddenness and alacrity of this day's travel, after 
leaving the quietude of the canoe, had awakened a sympathy 
in the injured nerves. In a short time, the pain was unendu- 
rable. With great effort I walked a mile further, and reached 
a double log house, the mistress of which bathed the ankle with 
salt and water, and made other applications. Some allevia- 
tion, but no permanent relief, was obtained. I then laid down 
under the hope of being better, but awoke on the morning of 
the 20th with little or no abatement of the pain, and inflam- 
mation. A traveller on horseback, coming along that morning 
on a fine animal, agreed, for a small compensation, to let me 
ride to the south fork of Strawberry river, while he went afoot. 



136 MINERAL INDICATIONS. 

This helped me over tTrelve miles of the road, where his path 
diverged ; and I felt so much relieved by it, on dismounting, 
that I managed, by easy stages, to walk four miles farther, 
which brought us to the main river. The afternoon was not 
yet spent ; but the pain of my ankle had returned before reach- 
ing the river, and I found it in vain to press forward, without 
adequate repose. 

The next morning (21st), my travelling companion, who 
cared nothing for natural history or antiquities, and was urgent 
to push on, left me, and returned to St. Lpuis. Left alone, I felt, 
for a few moments, a sense of isolation ; but I was now in a 
region where there was no longer any danger to be appre- 
hended for the want of the first necessaries of life. My 
lameness required nothing, indeed, but perfect repose. The 
people were kind, and, when I ascertained that my hostess was 
a sister of one of the hunters who had guided me in the most 
remote parts of my wanderings in the Ozarks, there was a 
manifest point of sympathy. 

I found by inquiry that there were appearances of a mineral 
deposit in this vicinity, which seemed to connect the hilly 
grounds of Strawberry river with similar indications which 
have been noticed near the Bull shoals, on White river. Ap- 
pearances denote the existence of sulphuret of lead in the 
vicinity. The sulphate of barytes, calcareous spar, and white 
crystalline masses of quartz, characterize the uplands. When 
my foot and ankle would bear it, I proceeded by easy paces 
northward, going, the first day after leaving the Strawberry 
valley, ten miles, which brought me to a place called Dogwood 
Springs, so named from the cornus florida. The next day I 
went ten miles further, when I came to the banks of Spring 
river, where I was entertained by Major Haynes. Here I 
first saw cotton in the fields, being the unpulled bolls of the 
autumn crop, which had not been thought worth gathering. 

Feeling no injury to result from these easy marches, which 
gave me time to examine the appearances of the surface, I 
ventured a little farther on the recovery of my ankle, and, the 
third day, went nineteen miles. In this distance I crossed the 



SHELTER REFUSED. 137 

stream called Elevenpoints, a tributary to Spring river, and 
came, at a rather late hour in the evening, into a small valley 
called Foosh-e-da-maw, a popular corruption of the French 
Fourche H Thomas. It was quite dark when I applied for a 
night's lodging at a small cabin, being the only one I had 
encountered for many miles. The man and his wife, who were 
its only occupants, were manifestly not blessed with much of 
this world's goods ; but they were kind, and, though they had 
already gone to bed, and had but one room, they permitted me 
to occupy a part of the floor. Spare bed they had none ; but, 
had they possessed ever so many, I did not require one. 
Camping out under the open heavens so long, had created a 
habit which made it impossible for me to rest in a soft bed. I 
had declined one the night before, at Spring river, and thrown 
myself on a single blanket, on the hard puncheons. I wished 
to keep my nerves up to this tense state, and the hardy habits 
of the woodman, while I was compelled to foot my way, and 
take my chances for rough fare, for some time. 

With the earliest gleams of light I was up, and walked four 
miles to breakfast. Twelve more brought me to Hicks's ferry, 
on a large stream called the Currents. I had camped on the 
source of this river, in the cliffs of the Ozarks, on my outward 
trip, and found the region remarkable for its large saltpetre caves. 
It was here a river of eight feet deep, and three hundred yards 
wide. At this spot I should have stopped ; for, after going 
beyond it, I found the country was thinly settled, which com- 
pelled me to walk some time after nightfall, before I could find 
a house ; and, on presenting myself, the man proved to be 
surly and gruff, and denied me lodging. It was evident to me, 
from words that passed, that his wife was expecting to be ill ; 
and, as the house was small, there seemed some reason for his 
apparent unkindness. I had already come twenty-three miles ; 
the night was dark, and threatened rain ; and the next house 
distant. I should have been happy to exclaim, with the poet, 

" Turn, gentle hermit of the dale, and guide my lonely way \" 

but there was no gentle hermit in sight. It was clearly not a 
question of poetry, but was likely to be one of sober, down- 
12* 



138 GENUINE HOSPITALITY. 

right prose. I said to him, finally, after a look into the black 
darkness and desolate woods, that I would only claim my length 
on the floor, and, to give no uneasiness to his good lady, be 
ofi" at the slightest intimation. He consented, and I laid down 
without receiving any notice of the lady's expected illness till 
morning, when I left my pallet at a very early hour. For 
three miles beyond, it was a rough region, through which it 
required daylight to pass, and where I must have lost my way 
in the dark, had I gone on, the night previously. 

I stopped at a cottage for breakfast. It was occupied by a 
poor woman. Everything bore tokens of this fact. She ap- 
peared to have little in the way of eatables herself, but was 
very willing, in the article of breakfast, to share that little 
with me. I had passed the night before supperless, after a 
long day's walk, and the morning's air had further excited my 
appetite ; still, I should have gone on, had another habitation 
been near at hand ; but what the good woman wanted in means, 
she made up in readiness and hearty good-will ; and, if the 
meal was not sumptuous, I arose as well satisfied as if I had 
breakfasted with a lord. 

Thus refreshed, I went on ten miles, which brought me to 
the banks of Little Black river. Two miles beyond this stream, 
I stopped at the house of a Mr. Reeves, at an early hour in 
the afternoon, my ankle giving indications of returning lame- 
ness. Quiet, and a night's repose, had the efiect to relieve 
these symptoms, and I was enabled cautiously to continue my 
journey the next day. Daylight was ever my signal for rising, 
and, by easy stages, I made seventeen miles during the day, 
walking early and late. The first six miles of this distance 
were made before I stopped for breakfast, and the next ten 
miles brought me to the ferry over Big Black river — a clear, 
rapid stream, which, in its progress to the south, is the reci- 
pient of all the before-mentioned streams, from the Strawberry 
river, north ; and is itself, finally, a tributary of White river, 
maintaining through it a free navigation with the Mississippi. 
After crossing the ferry, I went about half a mile further, and 
took up my night's lodgings at a Mr. Bollinger's. I felt no 
further weakness of my foot and ankle, and was happy in the 



THEATRE OF DE SOTO'S MOVEMENTS. 139 

reflection that my cautious movements had been such as not to 
overtax the strength of my nerves. Indeed, from this point, 
(till 1830,) I experienced no further symptoms of lameness. 

On the next morning (28th), I walked seven miles, and took 
breakfast at a Mr. Esty's, where I fell in with the old road, 
which had originally been laid, when the country came to be 
settled, on the ancient Indian path. The elevated lands be- 
tween Black river and the St. Francis, had evidently been the 
line of march of De Soto, when (in 1541) he set forward from 
" Quiquate," on the St. Francis, toward the "north-west," in 
search of Coligoa. Any other course between west and south- 
west, would have involved his army in the lagoons, and deep 
and wide channel, of Black river, which forms a barrier for 
about one hundred and fifty miles toward the south ; while 
this dividing ground, between the Black river and St. Francis, 
consists chiefly of dry pine lands and open uplands, ofiering 
every facility for the movements of his cavalry, which were 
ever the dread of the Indians. 

The first Indian village which De Soto reached, after cross- 
ing the Mississippi — probably at the ancient Indian crossing- 
place at the lower Chickasaw blufls — and pushing on through 
the low grounds, was on reaching the elevations of the St. 
Francis, immediately west of his point of landing. The place 
was called Casquin, or Casqui ; a name which will be recog- 
nized as bearing a resemblance to one of the Illinois tribes, who 
have long been known under the name of Kaskaskias. From 
this place on the high lands of the St. Francis, he ascended 
that river, keeping the same side of its current, through a fine 
country, abounding in the pecan and mulberry, a distance of 
seven leagues, to the central position of the Casquins. Here 
it was, and not on the immediate banks of the Mississippi, that 
he erected a gigantic cross, formed out of a pine tree, which, 
after it was hewn, a hundred men could not lift. 

From this place, after a rest of several days, he was led, by 
the wily chief, to march against the village and chief of Capaha, 
who was his hereditary enemy, and who had, in past encoun- 
ters, proved himself more than his equal in prowess. De Soto 



140 IDENTiriCATION OF INDIAN TRIBES. 

was cauglit in this trap, which had nearly proved fatal to his 
gallant army. 

Descending the high grounds, evidently, towards the north- 
east, and crossing alluvial tracts, by a march of about six days 
he reached the enemy, well posted, strong in numbers, and of 
great bravery, on the pastoral elevations, which we are disposed 
to look for at the site of the modern Spanish town of New 
Madrid. Capaha took shelter on a thickly wooded island in 
the Mississippi river, where De Soto, assisted by his allies, 
attacked him in canoes, and from which his allies, and after- 
wards he himself, were glad to retreat. The chief was a most 
brave, energetic young man, and fought against his combined 
enemies with the spirit inspired by long acknowledged success. 
This place formed the extreme northern limit of De Soto's 
expedition on the line of the Mississippi, and must have been 
north of 35°. After this effort, he retraced his steps slowly 
back to Casqui. 

The Kapahas, of whom the Sioux are ethnologically a branch, 
have occupied the west banks of the Mississippi, extending to 
the base of the Rocky mountains, as long as we have known 
that stream. They have been inveterate enemies of the whole 
Algonquin race, to which the Kaskaskias and Illinois belonged; 
and it is not improbable that they had, at this early day, not 
only encountered the Spaniards, but that, after their with- 
drawal, they fell on the Casquins, and drove them east of the 
Mississippi, into the country of the Illinois. 

While De Soto was in the country of Capaha, he learned 
that about forty leagues distant, (west, it must needs have 
been,) there were, in the hill country, quantities of fossil salt, 
and also a yellowish metal, which he supposed to be gold. He 
despatched two trusty and intelligent men, with Indian guides 
and carriers, to procure samples. After an absence of eleven 
days, they returned, with six of the Indians laden with crystals 
of salt, and one of them with metallic copper. A hundred 
and twenty miles west of the supposed point of starting, would 
carry the messengers across the valley of White river, and far 
into the Ozark plains and elevations, between the south fork 
of that stream, and the north banks of the Arkansas — the 



KENTUCKY CURRENCY. 141 

same region, in fine, mentioned, in a prior part of these 
sketches, as yielding those articles, on the authority of the 
experienced woodsman, Teen Friend. The country through 
which these messengers passed was sterile and thinly inha- 
bited ; but they reported it to be filled with herds of buffalo. 
These reports led him to march down the banks of the St. 
Francis, till he reached the village called Quiguate. From 
thence, having heard of a locality called Coligoa, where he 
thought there might be gold, he marched again north-west in 
search of it. This march, in which he followed a single Indian 
guide, must have led him to the foot of the rough, mountain- 
ous, granitic, and mineral region, at the sources of the St. 
Francis. But this search proved also a disappointment. He 
was informed that, six leagues north of Coligoa, the buffalo 
existed in vast herds ; but that, if he would reach a rich pro- 
vince, he must march south. It is possible that, in this lati- 
tude, he may have, a little, exceeded the utmost point reached 
by him on the Mississippi ; and he hence confined his adven- 
turous marches to Southern Missouri and Arkansas. 

Having taken the road again, after my halt at Esty's, I 
travelled diligently ten miles, at which distance I reached the 
ferry of Dr. Bettis, at the St. Francis. The scene was rural 
and picturesque, the river winding along in a deep and rapid 
bed, between elevated and fertile banks. From appearances, 
and old fields, it seemed altogether such a spot as might have 
answered the glowing Spanish descriptions of Casqui. The 
ferry was managed by a black man ; and we cut an American 
half-dollar on the top of an oak stump, agreeably to the Ken- 
tucky mode, to adjust the ferriage. On landing on the north 
bank, I pursued my journey six miles farther, to one Smith's. 
It was now the 28th of January, and the weather so mild, that 
I this day found the witch-hazel in bloom. 



CHAPTER XV. 

PROCEED NORTH — INCIDENTS OF THE ROUTE — A SEVERE TEMPEST 
OF RAIN, WHICH SWELLS THE STREAM — CHANGE IN THE GEO- 
LOGY OF THE COUNTRY — THE ANCIENT COLIGOA OF DE SOTO 

A PRIMITIVE AND MINERAL REGION — ST. MICHAEL — MINE A LA 
MOTTE — WADE THROUGH WOLF CREEK — A DESERTED HOUSE — 
CROSS GRAND RIVER — RETURN TO POTOSI. 

I LEFT my night's quarters before daylight was fairly deve- 
loped. The sky was, indeed, heavily overcast, and it soon 
commenced raining. Expecting to find a house at no great 
distance, I kept on, the rain at the same time assuming a more 
settled form, and falling with steadiness. It was seven miles 
before I reached shelter (Swaim's). I was thoroughly wetted, 
and, the storm continuing without abatement, I remained until 
the next morning. The atmosphere was then clear, and the 
sun rose pleasantly ; but the roads were a perfect quagmire. 
An immense body of rain had fallen. Every little rivulet 
roared as if it were a torrent that was out of all patience to 
deliver its quantum of water to the swollen St. Francis. The 
ground was perfectly saturated with water ; but I picked my 
way four miles to breakfast. It had been my intention to cross 
the St. Francis, and take the route through Caledonia to 
Potosi ; but after travelling sixteen miles towards the north- 
west, and reaching the fords, I found them too much swollen 
to make the attempt. 

After crossing the St. Francis, towards the north, there are 
strong indications of a change in the geological structure of 
the country. The horizontal limestone and sandstone series 
still continue for a distance ; but they are covered with large 
blocks of sienite and granite. What is remarkable in these 

(142) 



REGION OF DE SOTO'S COLIGOA. 143 

blocks, is their angular character, which denotes that they 
have not been carried far south of their original beds. These 
blocks increase in frequency and size as we approach the pri- 
mitive highlands of the St. Francis. And I at length stood, 
gazing at these rough, red, crystalline peaks, and high orbi- 
cular knobs, which reach up from beneath and through the 
calcareous and sedimentary series, without having lifted up the 
latter into inclined positions, or in the least disturbing their 
horizontality — a proof of their priority of position. 

I passed the night near the fords, at a farmer's ; and finding 
it impossible, the next morning, to pursue this route, or to get 
a boat or canoe to cross the river, obtained directions for mak- 
ing my way north-eastwardly, towards St. Michael's. I was 
now in the probable region of De Soto's Coligoa, the utmost 
north-westwardly point of his explorations. And it ceased to 
be a matter of surprise that the Indians had given him such 
wonderful accounts of the mineral wealth of the sources of the 
St. Francis. The white inhabitants, at this day, have similar 
notions. They perceive such an unusual geological display 
before and around them, that they suppose it indicates mineral 
treasures. There are stories afloat of all kinds of mineral disco- 
veries — not of gold, indeed, which was De Soto's search, but of 
tin, lead, copper, iron, cobalt, and antimony. The iron moun- 
tains of Bellevieu, so called, are part of this development. At 
a place called the Narrows, the river rushes between alpine 
peaks of sienite and black hornblende rock, which lies in 
huge and confused heaps, plainly indicating ancient volcanic 
action. I had examined this region, with minuteness, the pre- 
vious summer, in an excursion through the southern limits of 
the lead-mines, and now revisited some of the points, respect- 
ing which, my curiosity was unsatisfied. I wandered among 
these attractive peaks about ten miles, and slept at a house 
(Burdett's), to the occupant of which, I had carried a letter of 
introduction the year before. 

The next day (Feb. 1) proved rainy ; but I took advantage 
of intervals in the weather to advance on my general course 
about three miles. The sky, the next morning, was still 
cloudy, dark, and unsettled. When it indicated signs of clear- 



144 WADE THROUGH WOLF CREEK. 

ing up, I was advised of another ford of the St. Francis, at a 
higher point ; and I proceeded a part of the way to reach it ; 
but accounts discouraged me, and I bent my steps to the vil- 
lage of St. Michael. Two miles north of this, I came to the 
noted lead-mine of La Motte, the most southerly in position 
of the Missouri circle of mines. At this place, they raised 
large tubular masses of lead-ore, from its position in the red, 
marly clay. The slags drawn from the ash-furnace denoted, 
by the intensity of their blue color, its connexion with the 
oxide of cobalt. Ten miles beyond these mines, after passing 
an uninhabited tract, I entered Cook's settlement, where I slept. 

Next day, I was again in motion at early dawn. The effects 
of the late copious rains were still an impediment to travelling ; 
but I experienced no further symptoms of lameness, and felt the 
desire to press on, increasing in, proportion as I drew near my 
starting-point in the prior autumn. I felt that I had succeeded 
in the accomplishment of a trip of some peril, through a noted 
mountainous range, into which all but one of my original party 
had failed to accompany me, and my guides had deserted me 
at a moment of peculiar peril. It was also true that my only 
companion had rather abruptly left me, when taken lame on 
the road. I could not, as I approached the spot of organizing 
my party for this exploration, help feeling a degree of buoyancy 
of spirits, while returning to it, in the hope of again meeting 
familiar acquaintances face to face. 

Under this impulse, and with the high health produced by 
daily exercise, I travelled ten miles on the following day. On 
reaching Wolf creek, it was found to be filled to overflowing, 
It was already dark ; and a ruinous, tenantless house, with the 
doors and windows standing open, was the only object that 
presented itself on the opposite bank. Horse or canoe, there 
was none ; but there could be no hesitation in attempting to 
cross it. The waters, in the deepest parts of the channel, 
reached to my breast. I came out, of course, dripping ; it 
was still two miles to the next house, and, casting furtive 
glances at the masses of darkness in the deserted dwelling, and 
with a path muddy and indistinct, I hurried on to the point of 
my destination. 



RETURN TO POTOSI. 145 

It was the 4tli of February when I crossed Big river, the 
Grande river of the days of Crozat and the financier Law. I 
was carried across it in the ferry-boat, and took my way over 
the sylvan, long, sweeping mineral hills, which stretch toward 
Potosi, entering that busy town at a seasonable hour, having 
travelled fifteen miles. The first acquaintance I encountered, 
on reaching within a few miles of it, was a Major Hawkins — 
a surveyor, an old resident, and a good woodsman, who, cor- 
dially extending his hand to welcome my return, exclaimed, 
" I thought the Indians or the wolves had long ago eaten you 
up." This was the first intimation I received that there had 
been any temerity in the plan for this expedition. 

Potosi was now selected as the place for drawing up an 
account of the mines, and the mineralogical productions and 
resources, of the country — a memoir on which, was published 
at New York in the autumn of this year (1819), and which is 
inserted, in a revised form, in the Appendix to these sketches. 



13 



PHYSICAL GEOGEAPHY OF THE WEST. 

T'VVO LETTERS ADDRESSED TO THE HOX. J- B. THOMAS, U. S. 
SEyATR WA5HrS"GT0X. 



PoTOSi, Missouri, Feb. 9th, 1819. 

Sib : I beg leave to address you on the subject of mj recent expe- 
dition into the Ozark region. When I was at jour house at Cahokia, 
I mentioned to you ejt design of making a tour into the interior of 
the Territory. I hare just returned from the excursion. Two per- 
sons were associated with me in the enterprise ; but one of them, our 
mutual friend, Mr. Brigham, was compelled by Ulness to relinquish 
the journey, and return, after he had reached Potosi. 

We prc-ceeded in a south-west direction, which carried us across the 
sources of the Maramec and Gasconade. We then entered on the 
elevated highlands, which alternately pour their waters into the Mis- 
souri and 3Iississippi rivers, reaching, in their development, to the 
Washita river. Through this rough alpine range, the Arkansas, 
rising in the Rocky mountains, f>enetrates, and is the only river that 
completely separates the chain. Our explorations were confined to 
the region lying on its northern banks. Winter overtook us on the 
sources of the White river, giving us a few days of severe weather, 
but offering, generally, no imt-ediment to travelling. There is much 
that is most striking and picturesque in the scenery of this region, and 
not less in its productions and physical character. Nowhere, proba- 
blv, on the globe, is there such a remarkable succession of limestone 
caverns, and large, transparent springs. At several places, large 
brooks flow abruptly out of crevices in the rock ; and at one place, a 
flowing stream. Spring river, thus originates. We found the ores of 
lead, iron, and manganese, in large bodies. The high uplands are 
often rent by precipitous valleys and large chasms, caused by the force 
of these streams. These valleys are well wooded, and contain the 
riehest soiL And this broad region must at no distant day attract 

(146) 



LETTEfiS TO 6EKAT0B THOMAS. 147 

settlement, and will afford facilities for agricultare and mining, •vrliile 
its abundant water-power gives it great advantageg for Tnilling and 
manufeictares. 

The countrv is a continuation of the limestone and sandstone fcoma- 
tions of the west banks of the ?IississippL The numl>er and extent 
of the caverns in this formation, is. indeed, remarkable. Thej jieli 
saltpetre earth, wherever they have been explored. Xitrate of p-c/tash 
has been manufactured in some of these caves, and transported across 
the wilderness for eighty miles ; and a valuable traffic in this article 
may be established. In the district between the head- waters of White 
river and the Arkansas, salt is found, in a crystallized state, in the 
prairies. The region is stiU oc-cupied by herds of the bu^lo, dk, 
deer, and by the bear, and smaller animals of the latitude, which 
renders it an attractive country to hunters and trappers. 

The Osage Indians, who inhabit it, are the cause of fear and alarm 
to this class ; but it did not appear to us, from the sparse numbers cf 
the Indians, and the f»eriodical flying visits they are in the habit of 
making the eastern and northern parts of it, that there is ground c£ 
permanent apprehension fitim this source. The f-c-Iiey of locating the 
Cherokees on the north banks of the Arkansas, may well be ques- 
tioned ; and I have heard this arrangement much spoken against- 

Indeed. the agricultural value of the country has been much under- 
rated. Independent of the mineral discoveries mentioned, the arable 
lands of the Ozark summit-level c-onstitute one of the richest and 
most l>eautiful districts in the Territory. The high grass and flowers 
which cover the prairie-lands, impart the m-3st sylvan aspect to the 
scene. Springs of the purest water abound, and, by avoiding the 
chasms, the country is susceptible of being traversed by roads. It 
only requires to be better known, to attract the notice of emigrants, 
and win some day l>ear a great population. I do not doubt that the 
high road fix)m St. Louis to Fort Smith wiU probably cross this tract 
of country. Such a route must greatly shorten the distanc-e. 

I cannot refer you to a correct map of the country, and therefore 
enclose you a sketch, explanatory of my route. From a conversation 
with Mr. Brigham, I cannot mistake your friendly infuence in these 
explorations. I am desirous to extend them to other farts of the 
frvntiers. I understand that the Secretary of War entertains eiJaiged 
and enlightened views on the subject I should be pleased to l-e 
employed in this branch of the public service. 

I am, with respect, your ob"t serv't, 

HZXBT R. SCHOC'LCSAJT, 



148 LETTERS TO SENATOR THOMAS. 

n. 

PoTosi, Feb. 15, 1819. 

Sir : I bad tbe bonor, on tbe 9tb instant, to address you on tbe 
subject of my journey into tbe region of tbe Ozarks. You will allow 
me again to trouble you on tbe subject of explorations. 

Government bas long been acquainted, by reports, witb tbe existence 
of native copper on tbe Upper ^Mississippi, and tbe banks of lake Supe- 
rior. I believe tbe attempt was made about 1798, to bave tbe localities 
explored. I know not wbat success attended tbat attempt. Probably 
tbe remoteness of tbe country, and tbe bostility of tbe Indian tribes, 
were unfavorable. But I am persuaded tbat tbe object is one of 
importance. 

Tbe mineralogy of tbose regions became tbe topic of early interest, 
even in tbe days of tbe Frencb supremacy. Copper appears to cba- 
racterize an extensive area. It is "stated to break out in tbe imme- 
diate vicinity of St. Antbony's falls, and to continue tbrougb to tbe 
soutbern sbores of lake Superior. In its exploration, otber traits of 
tbe natural bistory of tbe country would be developed. 

Tbe establisbment of a military post at St. Antbony's falls, renders 
tbe present a favorable time for exploring tbe region. Its features 
and resources are objects of deep interest; and it appears to be tbe 
policy of tbe government, in tbe disposition of its western and north- 
ern posts, to prepare tbe way for ascertaining tbese traits at tbe 
earliest period. Tbe position of tbe most advanced posts wbich are 
now in tbe process of location, is sucb as to aflford great facilities for 
exploration. Tbe hostilities of tbe Indians are repressed, and a sur- 
vey of tbese parts of tbe public domain could now be effected witb 
comparative safety, and at little expense. 

Should you think tbe appointment of an agent for this purpose, to 
accompany some of the military movements, would be favorably 
received by tbe Secretary of War, may I indulge tbe hope tbat, in 
recommending it, you will remember me in the premises ? 
I am, with respect, your ob't serv't, 

Henry R. Schoolcraft. 



APPENDIX. 



OBSERVATIONS 



MINERALOGY, GEOLOGY, ANTIQUITIES, 



GEOGRAPHY OF THE WESTERN COUNTRY. 



13 * (149) 



LIST OF PAPERS. 

A. MINERALOGY, GEOLOGY, AND MINES. 

1. A View of the Lead-Mines of Missouri. 

2. A Catalogue of the Minerals of the Mississippi Valley. 

3. Mineral Resources of the Western Country. A Letter to Gen. 

C. G. Haines. 

B. GEOGRAPHY. 

1. Missouri. 

2. Hot Springs of Washita. 

3. Memoir of Whits River. 

4. List of Steamboats on the Mississippi River in 1819. 

C. ANTIQUITIES AND INDIAN HISTORY. 

1. Articles of curious workmanship found in ancient Indian Graves. 

2. Ancient Indian Cemetery found in the Maramec Valley. 



(150) 



I. LEAD-MINES OF MISSOURI. 



A MEMOIR ON THE GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY OF MISSOURI, 
DRAWN UP IN 1819. 



PREFACE. 

When we reflect on the history of our own country — its ad- 
vance in arts, commerce; and agriculture, and the rapidity with which 
its population has increased, and its resources been developed — the 
mind is with difficulty brought to believe that all this has taken place 
within a comparatively short period. These developments are parti- 
cularly striking in the region west of the Alleghany mountains. A 
new world has, as it were, been discovered in the Mississippi valley^ 
which, under the strong impulse of emigration, has been transformed, 
as if by superhuman exertions. No sooner had its great fertility and 
productiveness become known, than a universal desire for con-ect 
information sprang up. Our first travellers in that region did little 
more, however, than glance at its most obvious and grand features; 
and with respect to some topics, such as its antiquities and natural 
history, these notices have had the effect rather to stimulate, than to 
gratify curiosity. 

But, whatever information has been published respecting the coun- 
try, its mineralogy and geology have remained wholly unnoticed. 
The mines of Missouri, especially, have failed to attract the consider- 
ation which they merit. To supply this deficiency, I have written 
the following memoir. It is the result of no ordinary degree of op- 
portunity of observation upon the particular mines, and their geolo- 
gical position in the great metalliferous limestone formation west of 
the Mississippi. Besides visiting the principal mines, and traversing 

(151) 



152 PREFACE. 

the country thoroughly, to ascertain the character and value of its 
mineral resources and geological developments, I made an exploratory 
tour through the broad and elevated region of the Ozarks, lying west 
and south of this celebrated tract, extending into the Territory of 
Arkansas. If, therefore, I have failed to collect a body of facts suffi- 
cient to impress the reader with a sense of the extent, value, and 
importance of the country, and particularly of its mines and mine- 
rals, it can hardly be ascribed to a want of opportunity, or, indeed, 
of assiduity in the study or arrangement of my facts. 

The historical data here recorded, respecting Renault's operations, 
have never, I believe, appeared in print. They were elicited in the 
course of a legal investigation, instituted between the heirs-at-law of 
Renault, the agent of Crozat, in 1723, and sundry individuals, who 
claimed the same grants on the authority of a date subsequent to the 
transfer of Louisiana to the United States. 

The drawings I give of the lead-furnaces which are peculiar to that 
section of country, are from actual measurement, done under the eye 
of an operative smelter of approved skill at Potosi, and are conceived 
to be minutely correct. 

Henry R. Schoolcraft. 

New York, Nov. 25, 1819. 

In republishing this memoir, advantage has been taken of several 
judicious suggestions respecting it, made in a critical notice of it, by 
the able editor of the American Journal of Science, in the volume 
of that work for 1821. 

H. R. S. 

Washingtox, Jan. 20, 1853. 



A VIEW OF THE LEAD-MINES OF MISSOURI. 



SECTION I. 
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE MINES. 

The rage for adventure, which the brilliant exploits of Cortez, Pizarro, 
and other Spanish adventurers, had excited throughout Europe, continued 
for a long time to agitate the public mind, and had not abated at the 
commencement of the eighteenth century, when an idea of the mineral 
riches of Louisiana had become prevalent. Gold and silver were then 
the chief objects which engrossed attention ; and in search of them, the 
earliest discoverers were led to penetrate into the interior. The physical 
aspect of the country was in general such as to flatter the most sanguine 
expectations of mineral wealth ; and the further the country became 
known, the more interesting was found its mineralogical character. To 
men whose preconceived ideas of a country were already high, such 
appearances must have had the most inspiriting effect, and lightened the 
embarrassments they encountered in exploring a wilderness. Many of 
the useful metals were thus met with, and gold and silver mines were 
reported to have been discovered in several places. Red river, the Arkan- 
sas, and ^le river La Platte of the Missouri, were particularly mentioned ; 
and from the evidence which is afforded by the discovery of ancient fur- 
naces, &c., there is reason to conclude that those metals were wrought at 
a very early period. Judging from appearances, they were ready to 
conclude the country exhaustless in mines ; and the most exaggerated 
accounts of them appear to have been transmitted to Europe, particularly 
to France, where a lively interest was felt in the prosperity of the infant 
colonies in Louisiana and Illinois ; and in the descriptions published at 
that day, the lands are reputed to equal in fertility the banks of the Nile, 
and the mountains to vie with the wealth of Peru. 

It was in this supposition of the immense wealth of Louisiana, both in 
the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, that the renowned Mississippi 
scheme originated, which, from the imposing character it was made to 
assume under the guidance and direction of M. Law, drew upon it the 

(153) 



154 APPENDIX. 

eyes, not only of France, but of all Europe, and produced one of the most 
memorable disappointments recorded in the annals of commercial specu- 
lation. 

Louis XIV., by letters patent, bearing date September 14th, A. D. 1712, 
granted to Anthony Crozat, Counsellor of State, Secretary of the House- 
hold, &c., the exclusive privilege of commerce of that district of country, 
now known as the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Illinois, 
and the Territories of Missouri and Arkansas, with the proprietary right 
of the mines and minerals he should discover in the country, reserving 
the fifth part of allj^ullion of gold and silver, and the one-tenth of the 
produce of all other mines. The exclusive privilege of commerce was 
granted for a term of fifteen years ; but the right of the mines was 
conveyed in perpetuity to him and his heirs, on the condition that such 
mines and minerals should revert back to the crown of France, whenever 
the working of them was discontinued for three years together. The 
bounds of Louisiana, as granted to Crozat, are described in these words : 
" Bounded by New Mexico, (on the west,) and by the lands of the English 
of Carolina, (on the east,) including all the establishments, ports, havens, 
rivers, and principally the port and haven of the Isle of Dauphine, here- 
tofore called Massaerfe ; the river of St. Louis, heretofore called Missis- 
sippi, from the edge of the sea as far as the Illinois ; together with the 
river of St. Philip, heretofore called Ouabache (Wabash) ; with all the 
countries, territories, lakes within land, and the rivers which fall directly 
or indirectly into that part of the river of St. Louis." 

In the month of August, A. D. 1717, M. Crozat solicited permission to 
retrocede to the crown his privilege of the exclusive commerce and the 
mines of Louisiana, which was granted by an arret of the Council of State, 
during the minority of Louis XV. In the same month, letters patent 
were granted by the Council of the Regency to an association of indivi- 
duals at Paris, under the name of " The Company of the West," by which 
they were invested with the exclusive privilege of the commerce of Louis- 
iana, and the working of the mines, to the same extent as it was enjoyed 
under the grant of Crozat. These letters patent were dated on the 23d 
(if August, A. D. 1717, registered 6th September of the same year, and 
were to be in force on the 1st of January, 1718, and to continue for a 
period of twenty-five years. By them, not only such grants and privileges 
were conveyed as had previously been enjoyed by Crozat ; but they were 
invested with additional powers, rights, and privileges. The territory 
was granted in free allodium, [enfraiic allien,) in lordship and in justice, 
the crown reserving to itself no other rights or duties but those of fealty 
and liege homage, which the company was required to pay to the king, 
and to his successors at each mutation of kings, with a crown of gold of 
the weight of thirty marks. The boundaries were the same as described 
in the grant to Crozat ; and the mines and mining grounds, opened or 
discovered during the term of its privilege, were declared to belong to the 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE MINES. 155 

company incommutably, without being holden to pay any rents or pro- 
ceeds whatever. The company was also invested with the right to sell 
and alienate the lands of its concession, at whatever price or rents they 
might fix, and even to grant them en franc allieu, without reserving the 
rights of justice or lordship. It was also provided, that if, after the expi- 
ration of the twenty-five years for which the exclusive privilege of com- 
merce was granted, the king should not see proper to continue the 
privilege by a new grant, all the lands and islands, mines, and mining 
grounds, which the Company of the West should have inhabited, worked, 
improved, or disposed of on rent, or any valuable consideration whatever, 
should remain to it for ever in fee simple, to use and dispose of as a pro- 
per inheritance, on the simple condition that the company should never 
sell such lands to any other than the subjects of France. 

A company incorporated with such ample rights and privileges, did not 
fail to draw upon it the attention of the speculative, or to enlist the aid 
of the enterprising capitalists of the French metropolis. The country 
of the Illinois was reputed rich beyond comparison : the financial esti- 
mates submitted to the view of the public, offered prospects of unusual 
gain, and capitalists flocked with avidity from all quarters to enrol them- 
selves as members of the company, and partake of the promised wealth. 
If anything had been wanting to accelerate the pace of adventurers, or 
to fan the ardor of hope, it was the genius, the financial abilities, and the 
commanding influence of M. Law, who was placed at the head of the 
company, and was the moving power in every transaction. Hence, it is 
no subject for surprise that the most extravagant anticipations were 
entertained by the members of the Company of the West, or that the 
unusual splendor of the Mississippi scheme was only equalled by the 
signal disappointment in which it eventuated. 

In the year after the Company of the West had been instituted by the 
royal patent of the king, they formed an establishment in the country of 
the Illinois, at fort Chartres ; and in order to promote the objects of their 
institution, and to encourage the settlement of the country, held out the 
most liberal inducements to French emigrants, and made them donations 
of all lands which they should cultivate or improve. Miners and mecha- 
nics were also encouraged to emigate; and the city of New Orleans, 
which had been founded during the last year of the authority of Crozat 
(1717), received a considerable accession to its population in the fall of 
the same year, and settlements began to extend along the banks of the 
Mississippi, and in the country of the Illinois. 

Among the number of adventurers to Illinois, was Philip Francis 
Renault, (the son of Philip Renault, a noted iron-founder at Consobre, 
near to Mauberge, in France,) who came over as the agent of the Com- 
pany of St. Philips, an association of individuals which had been formed 
under the patronage of the western company, for prosecuting the mining 
business in the upper country of Louisiana and Illinois. It appears also 



156 APPEXDIX. 

that he was a member of the Company of the West, and he is spoken of 
as " Director-General of the mines of the Royal Company in Illinois f a 
name by -which not only the present State of Illinois, but a vast district 
of the adjoining country, appears then to have been known, 

Renault left Franco in the year 1719, with two hundred artificers and 
miners, provided with tools, and whatever else was necessary for carrying 
the objects of the company into effect. In his passage he touched at the 
island of St. Domingo, and purchased five hundred slaves for working the 
mines ; and, entering the Mississippi, pursued his voyage up that river to 
New Orleans, which he reached some time in the year 1720, and soon 
afterwards proceeded on his way to Kaskaskia, in Illinois. Kaskaskia 
was then inhabited solely by the French, and was one of the earliest posts 
occupied by them when they began to extend themselves from Canada, 
along the great western lakes, and down the Ohio and Mississippi. Renault 
established himself in the vicinity of this town, near fort Chartres, at a 
spot which he named St. Phillips, (now called the Little Village,) and 
from this sent out his mining and exploring parties into various sections 
of Illinois and Louisiana. These parties were either headed by himself, 
or by M. La Motte ; an agent versed'in the knowledge of minerals, whom 
he had brought over with him. In one of the earliest of these excursions 
La Motte discovered the lead-mines on the St. Francis, which bear his 
name ; and, at a subsequent period, Renault made the discovery of those 
extensive mines north of Potosi, which continue to be called after him. 
Other mines of lead were also found, but their distinctive appellations 
have not survived ; and a proof of the diligence with which Renault pro- 
secuted the object, is furnished by the number and extent of the old dig- 
gings which are yet found in various parts of the country. These dig- 
gings are scattered over the whole mine country; and hardly a season 
passes, in which some antique works, overgrown with brush and trees, 
are not found. 

Renault, being probably disappointed in the high expectations he had 
formed of finding gold and silver, turned his whole force towards the 
smelting of lead ; and there is reason to conclude that very great quan- 
tities were made. It was conveyed from the interior on pack-horses (the 
only mode of transportation which was practicable at that early period). 
The lead made by Renault was sent to New Orleans, and thence chiefly 
shipped for France. That he also discovered copper, is probable, as a 
grant of land made to him at Old Peora, on the Illinois river, embraces a 
copper-mine. 

Renault's operations were, however, retarded and checked, from a 
quarter where it was least expected. By an edict of the king, made at 
Paris, in May, 1719, the Company of the West was united to the East 
India and Chinese Company, under the title of the Company Royal of the 
Indies [La Compagnie Roi/ale des Indies). And in 1731, the whole terri- 
tory was retroceded to the crown of France, the objects of the company 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE MINES. 157 

having totally failed ; and Renault Avas left in America, witliout the means 
of prosecuting the shining business. His exertions in behalf of the com- 
pany were not, however, overlooked by the government, and four several 
grants of land were made to him in consideration of his services. These 
grants bear date June 14th, A. D. 1723, and cover the Mine La Motte, 
and some other very valuable tracts, which, after having laid dormant for 
a period of about sixty years, have recently been claimed by the repre- 
sentatives of his heirs-at-law. 

Renault, however, remained in Illinois several years after the explosion 
of the Mississippi scheme, and did not return to his native country until 
1742. With him the greater part of his workmen returned ; the slaves 
were sold, and the mining business fell into neglect. Here is a period to 
the first attempt at mining in Louisiana. The country was ceded to Spain 
in 1762, and taken possession of in 1769. 

After Renault's departure, little or nothing appears to have been done 
in the way of mining ; and, even after the Spanish had taken possession 
of the country, the lead-mines were but little attended to. The force 
which Renault had with him was sufficient to protect him from the attacks 
of the savages ; but, after his departure, the settlements on the Missis- 
sippi, feeble in themselves, could not furnish protection to such as might 
be disposed to work at the mines. The Spanish, however, in a few years 
ufter taking possession of the country, did something ; and in process of 
time new discoveries were made, and the mining business began to assume 
a more respectable character. The principal discovery made under the 
Spanish authority was that of Mine h Burton, which takes its name from 
a person of the name of Burton, or Le Breton,* who, being out on a hunt 

* The following sketch of the life of Burton is given by Colonel Thomas H. 
Benton, of St. Louis, in the Enquirer of that city, October 16, 1818 : — " He is a 
Frenchman, from the north of France. In the fore-part of the last century, he 
served in the Low Countries, under the orders of Marshal Saxe. He was at Fonte- 
noy when the Duke of Cumberland was beat there by that Marshal. He was at 
the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom, and assisted in the assault of that place when it was 
assailed by a division of Marshal Saxe's army, under the command of Count Lowen- 
dahl. He has also seen service upon this continent. He was at the building of fort 
Chartres, on the American bottom; afterwards went to fort Du Quesne (now Pitts- 
burgh), and was present at Braddock's defeat. From the life of a soldier, Burton 
passed to that of a hunter ; and in this character, about half a century ago, while 
pursuing a bear to the west of the Mississippi, he discovered the rich lead-mines 
which have borne his name ever since. His present age cannot be ascertained. He 
was certainly an old gnldier at fort Chartres, when some of the people of the pre- 
sent day were little children at that place. The most moderate computation will 
make him a hundred and sixj He now lives in the family of Mr. Micheaux, at the 
little rock ferry, three miles above St. Genevieve, and walks to that village almost 
every Sunday to attend mass. He is what we call a square-built man, of five feet 
eight inches high, full chest and forehead; his sense of seeing and hearing some- 
what impaired, but free from disease, and apparently able to hold out against time 
for many years to come." 

14 



158 APPENDIX. 

in that quarter, found the ore lying on the surface of the ground. This i 
man, who is still living in the vicinity of St. Genevieve, at the advanced ' 
age of one hundred and nine years, had been employed vrhile a youth 
under Renault. The period of this discovery it would be very difficult 
now to ascertain, Burton himself being unable to fix it. It has probably 
been known about forty years. 

The processes of mining pursued under the Spanish government appear 
to have been very rude and imperfect, not more than fifty per cent, of 
lead being got from the ore. The common open log furnace was the only 
one employed, and the lead-ashes were thrown by as useless. 

In 1797, Moses Austin, Esq., performed a journey from the lead-mines 
in Wythe county, Virginia, to the Mine k Burton, in Louisiana, and 
obtained a grant of land one league square, from the Spanish authorities, 
in consideration of.erecting a reverberatory furnace, and other works, for 
prosecuting the mining business at those mines. This he commenced in 
1798, previous to which time no furnace for smelting the ashes of lead 
had been erected. Mr. Austin sunk the first regular shaft for raising the 
ore, and introduced some other improvements which were found benefi- 
cial. He also, in 1799, erected a shot-tower, in which patent shot of an 
approved quality were made. A manufactory of sheet-lead was com- 
pleted during the same year, and the Spanish arsenals at New Orleans 
and Havana drew a considerable part of the supplies for their navy from 
this source. 

About this time, a few other American families crossed over into Lou 
isiana Territory, and settled in the neighborhood of the mines. These, 
from their more enlightened and enterprising spirit, were an acquisition 
to the mining interest ; and as their earliest attention was directed to it, 
the lead business began to revive ; and at the time the Territory was taken 
possession of by the United States, the mines were extensively and advan- 
tageously worked.* The Mine i\ Ilobino, Mine il Martin, and many others, 
were shortly afterwards discovered. Since the year 1804, the number of 
mines has been astonishingly multiplied; Shibboleth, A'ew Diggings, 
Lebaum's, and Bryan's mines, are among the latest discoveries of 
consequence. 

The lead-mines did not fail to attract the earliest attention of the 
American government ; and, immediately after the occupation of the 
Territor}', measures were taken to ascertain their situation, the method 

* The following is a list of the principal mines worked under the Spanish govern- 
ment, with their situation : 

Mine La Motte Head of St. Francis river. 

Mine a Joe On Flat river. 

Mine il Burton On a branch of Mineral Fork. 

Old Mines do. do. 

Renault's Mines On Mineral Fork, or Fourche Arno. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE MINES. 159 

of working them, &c. Several laws have since been enacted on the 
subject, and a reservation made of all discoveries upon public lands. 

The emigration to Louisiana, which had partially commenced under 
the Spanish government, took a more decided character after the cession 
of the country to the United States, but has been particulaidy great within 
the last few years. 

In 1812, that part of Louisiana bordering on the gulf of Mexico, 
including New Orleans, and extending up the Mississippi to 33° north 
latitude, was erected into a State under the name of Louisiana, and the 
remainder formed into a territorial government by the name of Missouri, 
There is a petition now before Congress (Feb. 1819) for the admission of 
IMissouri into the Union on a footing with the original States. By this 
petition it is contemplated that White river will form the southern bound- 
ary ; and the country between that and the northern line of Louisiana, 
including our claims on the Spanish, will be erected into a territorial 
government, under the name of Arkansas.* 

Kespecting the present state of the lead-mines, it is only necessary here 
to add, that they are worked in a more improved manner than at any 
former period ; that they are more extensive than when the country came 
into the hands of the United States, and of course give employment to a 
greater number of miners, while every season is adding to the number of 
mines ; and that the ores may be considered of the richest kind. Every 
day is developing to us the resources of this country in minerals, and 
particularly in lead ; and we cannot resist the belief that, in i-iches and 
extent, the mines of Missouri are paralleled by no other mineral district. 
In working the mines, in raising and smelting the ore, and in the estab- 
lishment of the diflerent manufactures dependent upon it, there is much 
to be done. Though the processes now pursued are greatly superior to 
those in use under the French and Spanish governments, there is still 
ample room for improvement. The earth has not yet been penetrated 
over eighty feet ! We know not what may be found in the lower strata 
of the soil. There is reason to believe that the main bodies of ore have 
not yet been hit upon ; that they lie deeper, and that we have thus far 
only been engaged upon the spurs and detached masses. There is also 
reason to believe that bodies of the ores of zinc exist in the district of the 
mines, and that copper will be aiforded by the lower strata of earth. It 
is found overlaid by lead-ores in many of the European mines ; and the 
geognostic character of the country leads us to conclude that it may also 
be found here. 

The want of capitalists in the mine country, and of practical skill in 
the boring, blasting, sinking shafts and galleries, oppose obstacles to the 



* A law erecting the Territory of Arkansas from the southern part of Missouri, 
has since passed; but its northern boundary is extended so as to include all White 
Tiver above the latitude of 36° 30', 



160 APPENDIX. 

Buccessful progress of mining. There is but one regular hearth-furnace 
fur smelting in the whole district ; and that is on the modern plan of 
English furnaces. There are not over four or five regular shafts in about 
forty mines ; there is not an engine, either by horse, steam, or water 
power, for removing water from the mines, several of which have been 
abandoned on this account, with rich prospects of ore in view. In fine, 
there is little of that system which characterizes the best-conducted Euro- 
pean mines, and which, by an application of the most recent discoveries 
in mechanics, chemistry, and philosophy, render them the admiration of 
every intelligent visiter. Should the subject attract the attention of 
mining capitalists, the circumstance would form a new era in the history 
of the mining operations of this country. Something also remains to bo 
done by the government ; the existing laws are inadequate to the purposes 
for which they were enacted. That feature restricting leases to three 
years, is injudicious ; the period is so short, that it deters those who are 
most able from engaging in it at all. It is desirable that such a system 
should be established as would indicate the annual produce of the mines, 
number of hands employed, and such other facts as are necessary in form- 
ing a series of statistical tables on the subject. The want of such data 
has hitherto prevented us from properly estimating the importance of the 
mines in a national point of view. The acquisition of a scientic know- 
ledge of minerals should also be facilitated in this quarter. There should 
be a mineralogical school located in the country, where students might be 
instructed in that useful science. In a country so rich in minerals, and 
whose wealth will always so much depend upon a proper development of 
these resources, the knowledge of mineralogy should be laid open to every 
one, and should be within the reach of such as do not wish, or cannot 
get, the other branches of a liberal education. To obtain this knowledge 
now, a person would be compelled to travel to remote parts of the Union, 
and to incur an unreasonable expense. No one who is conversant with 
the advantages which Germany has derived from such a seminary, will 
deny the utility of a similar one in the United States. 

Yet, with all the disadvantages under which the lead-mines have been 
viewed, there are many who may be surprised to find their annual pro- 
ducts, from the best information, stated at three millions of pounds; and 
from this some idea may be formed of their riches and extent, and, when 
they come to be properly and regularly worked, how greatly they will 
contribute to the national wealth.* 



* Tho following are the principal historical epochs of Louisiana, chronologically 
arranged : 

A. D. 

Discovered by Ferdinand de Soto, and named Florida 1539 

Visited by the French from Canada 1674 

] Settlement made by La Salle 1683 

A settlement made at Beloxi 16'J9 



SECTION II. 

TOPOaRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL OUTLINE OP THE MINE 
COUNTRY. 

The district of country formerly known as the lead-mines of Louisiana, 
extends from the head-waters of the St. Francis, in a north-west direction, 
to the Maramec, a distance of seventy miles, by about forty-five in width, 
having the Mississippi on its eastern borers. It is included, very nearly, 
between 37° and 38° north latitude, and comprises an area of about three 
thousand square miles. Most of the mines are situated witliin a circle 
of this general area, of which Potosi and Mine i\ Burton constitute a 
centre. 

The rock formation of the country appears to be simple and uniform. 
At the lowest depths observed in valleys, there is a crystalline sandstone, 
which often consists of transparent quartzose grains, adhering by the 
force of aggregation. The lead-bearing limestone reposes upon this. 
Both formations are deposited in perfectly horizontal strata. Valleys 
which carry streams have been worn down into this formation, presenting 
this order of arrangement very satisfactorily. A stratum of red, marly 
clay, spreads over the limestone. Above this, constituting the top layer, 
or surface soil, rests a bed of diluvial materials, filled with broken-down 
fragments of rock, masses of radiated quartz, and chips of hornstone. 
Vegetable matter and black sand form a covering over such parts of this 
diluvial deposit as constitute valleys and agricultural plains. The Mis- 
sissippi river lays open this formation along its western banks, from the 
influx of the Missouri to Cape Girardeau. 

Beneath this metalliferous column lie the primitive rocks. The most 
striking feature of this kind is found in the occurrence of a primitive 
formation at the sources of the river St. Francis. My attention was 
arrested by this fact, soon after I began to examine the mine country. 
This formation consists of sienite, rather than granite ; the mica being 

Granted to Crozat by Louis XIV., 14th September 1712 

New Orleans founded by the French 1717 

Retroceded to the crown by Crozat " 

Granted to the Company of the AVest " 

Retroceded by the Company of the West 1731 

Ceded by France to Spain , 1762 

First occupied by the Spanish 1769 

Ceded to the United States 1803 

Taken possession of by the United States, 20th December " 

Louisiana became a State, August 1812 

Missouri Territory erected, 4th June " 

14 * L (161) 



162 APPENDIX. 

generally replaced or represented by hornblende. The feldspar, which 
constitutes three-fourths of the mass, is of a dull red hue. The rock in 
connection is greenstone trap, which is sometimes porphyritic. I observed 
small masses of sulphuret of iron in some parts of this rock. The up. 
heaval of this formation appears to have been of the most ancient era 
of geological action ; for the stratified limestones and sandstones, which 
lie upon or in juxtaposition to these elevations, have not been disturbed 
in their horizontality. The altitude of this primitive tract does not pro- 
bably exceed one thousand feet above the waters of the St. Francis river. 
Vast blocks of the red sienite have been detached, and scattered south- 
wardly over the secondary rocks, apparently by the force of some antique 
deluge, setting from the north. The whole series of formations may be 
judged of by the following diagram : 




The general aspect of the country is sterile, though not mountainous. 
The lands lie rolling, like a body of water in gentle agitation. In some 
places they rise into abrupt cliffs, where the rock formations appear. 
Generally, they present the form of diluvial ridges, sparingly covered 
with forest, and bearing a growth of prairie-grass and herbage. The 
western banks of the Mississippi, between St. Genevieve and Hercula- 
neum, present a mural front to this district, in a series of elevated per- 
pendicular cliffs of compact limestone. The whole coast extending to 
St. Louis, appears to be sufficiently elevated to have served as a former 
barrier to waters covering the low grounds of Illinois. The strata exhibit 
ancient water-marks of a diluvial character. They are broken through, 
from the west, by small streams draining the mine country. 

No indications of lead-ore have been found in these cliffs. The mines 
are situated at considerable distances west of them ; and when the ob- 
server has arrived at their localities, he finds the ore often lying in the 
unconsolidated soil. This soil is a stiff, reddish-colored clay, filled with 
fragments of cherty stones, quartz, and small gravel, clearly attesting its 
diluvial character. This soil extends to the depth of from ten to twenty 
feet, or more, and is based on limestone rock. It is so firm, in some 
places, as almost to resist the pickaxe ; in others, it partakes more fully 
of marl, and is readily penetrated. The ore lies in this marly clay, and 



OUTLINE OF THE MINE COUNTRY. 163 

is often accompanied by sulphate of Larytes and calcareous spar. The 
country is particularly characterized by radiated quartz, which is strewn 
in detached pieces over the ground, and is also found imbedded in the 
soil at all depths. This substance is here called blossom of lead, or mine- 
ral blossom. Pyrites, and some other ores of iron, are also found in 
detached masses upon the surface, and, very rarely, lead-ore. 

Such is the general character of the mineral lands, which are covered 
■with a stunted growth of oaks, denominated post-oaks. Walnut is found 
in some instances out of the valleys. A ridge of yellow pine extends west 
of the mines, between the St. Francis and Maramec, and is more decidedly 
barren than the grounds covered with oak. All the open, elevated tracts, 
are clothed with herbage, Avhich hides their flinty aspect, and gives the 
country a picturesque appearance. The minor slopes and ravines are 
often rendered almost impassable by hazel, vines, and other bramble, 
■which appear to be indicative of a better, or rather a deeper soil. The 
whole area of upland soil, which rests as a mantle over the rocks, is a 
diluvium, which must, we think, be referred to an early period of diluvial 
action. 

The only true alluvium of the mines appears to be confined to the val- 
ley's or plains, which are, consequently, the principal seats of cultivation, 
and thus derive an additional value fi"om their contiguity to the barren 
tracts. This alluvium rests on the red marl-clay, or mineral diluvium ; 
the latter of which is uniformly found on penetrating it. Some of the 
mines exist in, and have been pursued beneath, this top alluvion, across 
the valleys. Others are seated beneath an arable soil, bearing a forest. 
Many of the most barren and stony parts of the elevated lands are, on 
the contrary, destitute of mines. The depth of the mineral soil varies 
exceedingly. It barely conceals the rock formations in many of the more 
elevated positions, and frequently does not conceal them. It is deepest 
in the plains and depressed grounds, being accumulated much in the 
manner we should expect, on the supposition of a general diluvial 
submersion. 

The principal objection to a general diluvial action, involving the whole 
Mississippi valley, appears to arise from the admission of the limestone 
rock's being the true locality of the ore. But we think there are too 
many facts in support of this opinion, to leave any reasonable grounds 
for questioning it. Several of the mines in the mineral soil have been 
traced down into the rock, and have been pursued through apertures, 
closing and expanding in the manner of true veins. In the numerous 
cases where the rock has put a stop to further mining, and it has exhi- 
bited no signs of ore, it may be supposed that the ore has been moved, 
by diluvial force, from the original position of the mine, and been finally 
deposited, with the soil, upon unmetalliferous portions of the rock. And 
could we with certainty determine the course of diluvial action, the prin- 
ciples of mining might be, in some respects, employed in searching for 



164 APPENDIX. 

the original vein. It is evident, from the unscratched and unbroken 
surface of much of the ore and its spars, that it could not have been 
transported far ; while the portions of it called gravel ore, which evince 
its diluvial character, are manifest proofs of a change, more or less exten- 
sive, in the general position of the ore. 

With respect to the character of the limestone, we have been perplexed 
■with its protean character, and, to avoid apparent contradictions, were 
led, at first, to adopt distinctions of strata, which we very soon saw were 
untenable. It is evidently the American equivalent for the metalliferous 
limestone of England, and, as a formation, is of the transition era. In a 
specimen of this rock, now before us, taken from a fresh excavation at 
Potosi, forty feet below the surface of the soil, and thirty-one feet below 
the original surface of the rock, the structure is in part compact, and in 
part granular ; the compact portions having minute shining crystalline 
points, and the granular being without any appearance of crystallization, 
but changing, in the width of about forty lines, from compact granular 
to a dull arenaceous structure, quite friable between the fingers. Part of 
the mass is vesicular, and the vesicles are studded over with minute crys- 
tals of white opaque quartz. The two extremes of this specimen have the 
appearance of totally different formations, j'et are both calcareous. By 
experiment, I found a portion of the lower arenaceous part almost com- 
pletely soluble, in the cold, in nitro-sulphuric acid; and the actual 
residuum was, in part, owing to a defect in trituration. 

Most of the limestone rock disclosed by excavation in the mines, is of 
the granulated kind ; while the structure of the rock above the surf\\ce, 
where the strata are exposed to the weather, as in clifis and hill-sides, is 
of the solid, glistening, pseudo-compact variety. Both these varieties, as 
shown in the specimen, are geologically identical, notwithstanding their 
striking diflFerences in hardness, structure, colour, and particularly in 
crystalline lustre. This lustre is, however, as shown by examination with 
the magnet, owing almost exclusively to minute facets of calcareous 
crystals, which render it rather sparry than crystalline. 

We have examined large portions of this rock, in all its varieties, for 
organic remains ; but have not succeeded in finding any well-character- 
ized species, although a further and fuller search might, and probably 
would, disclose some species. We observed a single mass of the rock, an 
imperfectly columniform structure, apparently organic. The rock is 
rather vesicular than cavernous in its structure. The heavy deposit of 
diluvium conceals the surface. But if the appearances in the mine-dig- 
gings are to be received as general indicia, the surface of the concealed 
rock is extremely rough and irregular, standing up, in the mineral soil, 
in huge lumps, which renders the general depth at which it may be 
reached, a question of great uncertainty. 

It has been intimated that the sparry-compact, and the dull granulated 
varieties of the limestone, are often contiguous ; and we have seen, by 



OUTLINE OF THE MINE COUNTRY. 165 

the examination of a hard specimen, that they are geologically identical 
as a formation. If this compact variety from the mines be compared 
with the principal formation in the precipitous cliffs forming the western 
banks of the Mississippi, in front of the mine tract, they will be found 
to coincide in so many points, that these two localities may be deemed 
parts of the same formation, and as being identical in age. The prin- 
cipal differences consist in the occurrence of organic remains in the strata 
along the banks of the Mississippi ; a discovery attributable to the more 
full exposure of these cliffs to observation. There is also an apparent 
absence of the granulated, or sand-lime variety. These two calcareous 
tracts are not, however, continuous, being separated by a formation of 
granular quartz, or white crystalline sandstone, which runs nearly pa- 
rallel with the Mississippi for a distance, a few miles west of it. This 
stratum of rock, which appears to be rather a quartzose sandstone than a 
granular quartz, reappears west of Potosi, in the barren area called the 
Pinery, and is also apparent at several localities between the waters of 
the Maramec and the St. Francis. 

At a point thirty miles west of the Mississippi, in about the latitude 
of St. Genevieve, the primitive formation reveals itself in a series of moun- 
tain masses of granite, which cover a comparatively extensive area. This 
tract appears to be the nucleus of the country, rising through the great 
secondary formations which intervene between the Alleghany and the 
Rocky mountains. Its western limits have not yet been explored ; but 
it probably covers an area of not less than a hundred square miles. The 
mines lie north of it. This granite is composed almost exclusively of 
reddish feldspar and quartz. The proportion of mica is small, and this 
mineral is often absent. It has been employed as a material for mill- 
stones. It is connected with greenstone, which is sometimes poi'phyritic. 

We have now three formations of rock, as constituting the mine series; 
and it only remains to point out their relative position and extent, with 
the best means at our command. This might seem to be a very simple 
process, and would indeed be so, were it not that the area over which the 
formations extend is extensive, and is covered with deep formations of the 
diluvial and alluvial character, bearing a forest. The primitive is imme- 
diately succeeded by the two latter. Mine t\ La Motte is situated in the 
mineral diluvium, and is distant about two miles from the granite on 
Blackford's fork. The first appearance of rock, in situ, north of this 
point, is at Rock creek, a few miles distant, where the granular quartzose 
sandstone appears. There is no further appearance of rock in this direc- 
tion for many miles. The white crystalline sand-caves of St. Genevieve 
are seated in this formation. It is again disclosed on the Platten creek, 
and in the elevations west of the Joachim creek, called Fort Rock, and 
in the white sand-caves near Ilerculaneum. Whether it is continued 
farther in the approach to the Maramec, cannot be stated ; but the line 
.of country which is thus traversed by it, is probably sixty miles. The 



166 APPENDIX. 

only point where this rock appears on the banks of the Mississippi, is in 
the range of the Cornice Rocks. 

Proceeding west across this formation, the mineral diluvium succeeds, 
and conceals the rock formations ; but, wherever they are disclosed by 
the action of the streams, and by excavations, the metalliferous limestone 
appears, which constitutes the lowest stratum yet found in the mine 
region proper. But it is to be observed, that no excavations of any con- 
siderable depth have been made ; the rock has not been penetrated to 
any great depth. The principal seat of the mines consists of the 
area included within the circuits of the Grand river and Mineral Fork, 
constituting the main tributaries of the Maramec. These streams extend 
Bomething in the shape of a horse-shoe around the mines. Immediately 
west and south-west of this area, the white sandstone reappears, extend- 
ing south towards the granite. The position of the two formations may 
be represented by a pair of expanded dividers, opening northward ; the 
two shanks of which denote the sandstone ridges, and the head, or rivet, 
the primitive. 

The most valuable mineral products of the mines, in addition to lead, 
are iron and salt ; the latter of which is made, in limited quantities, at a 
saline spring at Madansburgh, in the county of St. Genevieve. Other 
indications of it exist at one or two localities in the township of Bellevieu, 
and on the Maramec river, where efforts were formerly made to manu- 
facture salt. 

Iron-ores are found at numerous points ; but no body of the ores of this 
metal is known, comparable, in extent or value, to the locality of Belle- 
vieu, called the Iron Mountain. The ore exists, at this place, in a very 
massive form. It is in the state of a micaceous oxide. It has been tried 
in a slag furnace, and smelted easily, without a flux. The iron obtained 
was of a very malleable quality, and spread freely under the hammer. 
This locality is embraced by the waters of Cedar creek, which, at tjie dis- 
tance of seven miles, are stated to afford a water-power adequate for the 
reduction and working of the ore. About five miles distant, at Stout's 
settlement, occurs another body of this ore. 

Zinc is found, in the form of a sulphuret, in small quantities, at several 
of the lead-mines in Washington county. A single mass of the sulphuret 
of antimony has been discovered in the granitical district, which affords 
also a locality of coarse graphite, and some other minerals, which will be 
noticed in the sequel. 

A sulphur spring exists a few miles west of the Mississippi, in Jeffer- 
son county. The water issues, in a copious stream, from an aperture, 
situated near a cliff of the compact limestone. It is of a bright, transpa- 
rent quality, but indicates, by its taste, its sulphureous impregnation, 
and deposits sulphur, in a whitish pulpy form, on the pebblestones and 
fallen vegetation of the brook which issues from the spring. 



OUTLINE OF THE MINE COUNTRY. 167 

Topographically considered, the mine country is a hilly and uneveu 
tract, having a considerable elevation above the waters of the Mississippi. 
It is well watered, with numerous springs, brooks, and streams, and, from 
the prevalence of a firm diluvial soil, affords facilities for roads. The 
climate is favorable to health. The manner in which the smelting of the 
ores is performed, being in the open air, is probably less injurious to 
those engaged in it, than if the furnaces were enclosed with buildings. 

Some losses are" sustained in the death of cattle, which die with a dis- 
ease called the mine sickness. Cows and horses, which are frequently 
seen licking around old furnaces, often die without any apparent cause. 
Cats and dogs are taken with violent fits, which never fail, in a short 
time, to terminate their lives. This is usually attributed, by the inhabi- 
tants, to the effects of sulphur, driven off from the ores in smelting. It 
is more probable that it arises from the sulphurous acid in its combina- 
tion with barytes, which may operate as a poison to animals. The sick- 
ness is wholly confined tft quadrupeds.* 

The soil thrown out of the pits, at the abandoned mines, is found to 
produce some plants, and even trees, which are not peculiar to the sur- 
face. Such are the Cottonwood and the beech-grape, species which are 
usually confined to the arenaceous alluvions of valleys. And we think 
their growth here is not promoted by the mineral clay, which is mani- 
festly of a fertilizing property, when cast on the surface ; but to the 
disintegration of the sand-lime, producing a soil favorable to such pro- 
ductions. The sensitive brier, observed in the mine district, is evidently 
not of this class, as it is found remote from any mine excavations. 

® On this passage, Mr. Silliman remarks, " that sulphur is not poisonous to men 

or animals The carbonate of barytes is eminently poisonous ; but we have 

never heard that the sulphate is so. May not the licking around the furnaces 
expose the cattle to receive lead, in some of its forms, minutely divided? or, if it 
be not active in the metallic state, both the oxide and the carbonate, which must 
of course exist around the furnaces, would be highly active and poisonous. Is it 
not possible, also, that some of the natural waters of the country may, in conse- 
quence of saline or acid impregnations, dissolve some of the lead, and thus obtain 
saturnine qualities? We must allow, however, that we are not acquainted with the 
existence of any natural water thus impregnated." — Jouk. Sci., Vol. III. 



SECTIOX III. 
LOCAL POSmOS OF THE SEVERAL IflSES. 

Succi tiw fiist diseoTcxy of lead in tids Tertitoty, die Boalcr Annies 
has been audi m c re aa ed, aad hardl j n aeaaoi^ paaMa witfaoni Kme new 
dtteorerf. Every dueoverjr of inq»Mtaaee eoon beeoaie* tiie centre of 
■uouag attzaetioD. Aa tlw ore ia fiwad m tlK dflarial aoil, it ia gese- 
zallj exhaaeted oa leadiiag the adid voek; and after fte n et iatin g a eon- 
liidetaUe area of tW aa»we villi aay.orbot poatial saeeeai^lfcc loealitj 
ia a h a tt don o d. and n new one aoi^bt. A« Oe nunea a» woifcnd witfaont 
capital, and the ore ia £spened over a wide aj«a, tbe nnnber of loealiliea 
is alaaoct indefin^ Upwardaof tetyprineipal aHb-diatiiete.4t«ki>ovn« 
BMat of vfaidi ate spfiropriatelj den oiina t a d dij^in^. The eavlieat 
dieecrreij, at Mine k Barton, baa been one af the aMat valnafcle, and alill 
Dontinnea to afiMid Ike ore. Mine i In Hotto baa aba fvered an esten- 
Mve dcpcwlk aad >• atill anrrbamited Hem I^g^nga, SbStibtMk, and 
Bicfawooda, are aaaong tbe diaeirveriea of bttnr date, wbidi bave jiMed 
Tcrjrlar^qiiaotitiMofore. Bat ti^ aM}de of niniag in tbe dihrrial anl 
moat <ubaoat it of ita mineral eontenta, aad direct arioeta, in after reare, 
w tbe trae poaitaon af tbe ore, in die ealeareoaa rodk. Sa loag aa tbe 
•«a«eb eontinnee in tbe aail, tbe banaear will iiaitake of Ae aaeertaintf 
vbicb wm attm dt it, and whidi re ad r r i it laAer aa obfeet of t e a rpora ry 
fsiliTpnae, tbaa a fixed eaqrtojnMat. 

In tbe aeaicb far ai« m Ae aeil, a eane ely any nnifi ir ai ymts^^m 
eaa be cettoialy n^ed an. Geaecatly, toeky and bamn l oc a lijaea are 
^ivoided, and lar;^ and deep beda of tbe red aMtalli£eroa« elay aong^ &r. 
Xbe oeeomMee «f eryatallked qnaxtB, or apara, on tbe anrfiMe, is regarded 
only aa a general indieation, bat eaanot be dq»endedon to enanre loeal 
sneeeet. Tbeae auasea are fiEwnd to be <listrit«ted on aad tbrot^ tbe 
top awl, aa otber debris, bong aoaaetxnaea eoatagoons to, aad softimea 
raaote fivat, vre. Bat tbfgr are never, so far aa I have observed, tomod 
wiA thu ore. 

Tbe t&etb(«d of sfar e bia g fur aad raaaia^ Iba ore, ia aiaqde. Having 
fiz«d «o a spot ior diggfa^ ^e operator leasniys off aboat ei|^t feet 
afttare. A piebaxeaadsbovdareaaedlbrientoviagtbacartbL Aprae- 
tiaed baad viU piteb tbe eardi from a depdi of «|^ or ten feet A 
tnadlaas aad badcet are Aea frfaeed over tbe pit^ aad tbe exesvBtion tbaa 
eonttaned. Shnall detagbed Msssra of ore, or qiaia. are often foand ia 
tbe aoil, in approaefaing a larger body. Hie ore is tbe anlplraret, or 
gakfta. It baa a brua4, glitUrriog i^rain, ai»d is readily diristUe into 
eaU«al fragaaenta. . It otsenrs ia beda, or detnebed aiasses, wbieb are de* 
posited borixoBiaIfy ia tbe aoiL Tbcy are often awawpanied by tbe 
aa lp bat f of barytes,orby calc arp a as apar; siianf liaiai by Meade, or iron 



POSITION OF THE MIXES. 169 

pyrites. The ore is often connected with the barvtic spar, indicating the 
latter to be a true matrix. The direction of these beds of ore appears to 
be irregular. Veins of ore are confined to the rock. 

The variety of ore called t/-nicd ore, differs from the preceding chiefly 
by its marks of attrition, and connection with diluvial pebble-stones. No 
spars have been noticed in these gravel-beds, although it is probable that 
a careful search might detect them. 

The calcareous spar is most abundant in connection with rock diggings. 
It is translucent, or transparent, and often exhibits the property of double 
refraction. The miners, who employ their own conventional terms, call 
this substance (/lass tiff, to distinguish it from the sulphate of barytes, 
which is denominated tiff. Much of the radiated quarta of this district 
bears the marks of diluvial action. It is not uncommon to find masses 
of it, in which the angles of the crystals are quite defaced. Veins of ore 
in the rock correspond generally, in their course, I think, with the cardi- 
nal points, in the instances of their being pursued horizontally. But 
they dip at various angles with the plain, or sink perpendicularly into 
the rock. 

The horizontal position of the ore-beds in the red clay soil, may be 
regarded as an evidence of its being a diluvial deposit. 

The metalliferous, red, marly clay, is, in tine, the most interesting geo- 
logical problem connected with the mines, and is calculated to show us 
how little we know of the true eras of the diluvial deposits. After every 
examination which we have been able to make, we are decidedly of the 
opinion that this formation belongs te the diluvial, and not to the alluvial 
era. It seems, indeed, to assert a claim to be considered, among the 
western strata, as immediately succeeding the secondary. It lies directly 
next to, and upon, the limestone rock. We have witnessed the progress 
of an excavation on the public square of Potosi, in which the soil was 
removed down to the n^)ck, and a clean area of its surface was exposed. 
There was no other stratum below it, and between the clay and rock. 
And such we believe to be its general position. The radiated quartz and 
pebble drift is above it, and, consequently, constitutes a subs*<quent de- 
posit. And hence it is that the numerous fragmentary masses of the 
former, called mineral blossom, are no sure indications of the subterra- 
neous presence of ore. The gravel-ore and mixed diluvial gravel is like- 
wise a newer deposit, coinciding with the era of the primitive and second- 
ary boulders. No largo primitive boulders, however, exist in the mine 
district, if we except the angular fragments of granite, south of St. 
Michael, which are, indeed, just without the lead-yielding area. Pebbles 
of common quartz, granite, and greenstone, are found in the surface soil, 
and are also to be observed, in accumulated masses, in the beds of brooks. 
Occasionally an orbicular mass of these rocks, of the size of a melon, is 
observed. It is evident, from these appearances, that no fiMrmatious of 
the primitive exist, towards the sources of the Mississippi, for a great 

15 



170 



APPENDIX. 



distance, as it is from this direction that diluvial action appears to have 
been propagated. This clay soil is free from boulders, and is of a homo- 
geneous texture. It partakes, in its qualities, so largely of marl, as to 
operate as a manure, on being thrown out of the pits, and, after a few 
years, is covered with a very rank growth of trees, vines, &c. This is a 
characteristic trait of the locality of abandoned diggings. 

The following is a catalogue of the mines. It comprises those of most 
note, which are now worked, or have been at some former period. 



1. Mine li Burton. 23. 

2. Mine il Robino. 24. 

3. Mine h Martin. 25. 

4. New Diggings. 26. 

5. Citadel Diggings. 27. 

6. Perry's Diggings. 28. 
. Hawkins's Mine. 29. 

8. Rosebury's Mine. 30. 

9. Austin's Shaft. 31. 

10. Jones's Shaft. - 32. 

11. Rocky Diggings, (Prairie de 33. 

Roche). 34. 

12. Gravelly Diggings. 35. 

13. Brushy-run Diggings. 36. 

14. Stricklin's Diggings. 37. 

15. Bibb's Diggings. 38. 

16. Tebault's Diggings, (Pinery), 39. 

17. Mine Astraddle. 40. 

18. Masson's Diggings, or Partney's. 41. 

19. J. Scott's Diggings. 42. 

20. T. Scott's Diggings. 43. 

21. Micheaux's Diggings. 44. 

22. Henry's Diggings. 45. 



Moreau's Diggings. 
Tapley's Diggings. 
Lambert's Diggings. 
Old Mines. 
Mine Shibboleth. 
Elliot's Mines. 
Belle Fountains. 
Cannon's Mines. 
Little Diggings. 
Becquet's Diggings. 
Mine Liberty. 
Renault's Mines. 
Miller's Mine. 
Mine Silvers. 
Fourche h Courtois. 
Pratt's Mine, Big river. 
Lebaum's Mine, Richwoods. 
Mine ii Joe, Flat river. 
Bryan's Mines, Hazel run. 
Dogget's Mine, do. 
Mine La Motte, St. MichaeL 
Gray's Mine, Big river. 
M'Kane's Mine, Dry creek. 



The most noted mines are Mine tY Burton, New Diggings, Shibboleth, 
Richwoods, Old Mines, and the numerous mines on the waters of the 
Mineral Fork of Grand river. Mine ;\ La Motte, Mine il Joe, and Bryan's 
Mines, are east and south of the principal group of mines in "Washington 
county, and at a considerable distance from them. A few general remarks 
may be applied to all these mines. 

The mines possess one general character, although there are some 
peculiarities which I shall hereafter mention. The ore is found in de- 
tached pieces and solid masses, in beds, in red clay, accompanied by 
sulphate of barytes, calcareous spar, blende, iron pyrites, and quartz. 
The ore is of that kind called, by mineralogists, lead-glance, or galena, 
and is the sulphuret of lead, of chemistry. As it is dug up or quarried 
from the adhering spar, it presents a very rich appearance. It has a 



POSITION OF THE MINES. 171 

broad, glittering grain, of a lead-gray colour, which passes into a bluish 
shade. The ore is easily broken by the blow of a hammer, and may be 
pounded to a fine powder, still preserving its glittering appearance. In 
breaking it, it always separates in cubes. Sometimes detached lumps of 
four or five pounds weight, of a cubical form, are found imbedded in the 
clay. Its primitive figure of crystallization is particularly observable 
after the ore has been desulphurated by heat, which, at the same time, 
increases its splendor, and renders the lines of intersection between the 
facets more plainly discoverable. 

The clay, or red earth, in which the ore is found, appears to partake 
largely of marl ; and a difi"erence of quality is to be observed at the dif- 
ferent mines. It all, however, operates more or less as a stimulant to 
vegetation, on being thrown out of the pits. Mixed with the clay are 
innumerable pieces of radiated quartz, very beautiful in appearance. 
This forms the first stratum, and is about fourteen inches in depth ; then 
succeeds a stratum of red clay, four or five feet thick, and sparingly 
mixed with substances of the same kind ; after this, a layer of gravel 
and rounded pebbles, of a silicious character, ensues ; these are about a 
foot in depth, and lead-ore, in small detached lumps, is then found. This 
is of the description called gravel-ore, and no spars are found accompa- 
nying it. The greatest proportion of lead-ore is, however, found imbed- 
ded in marly clay, accompanied by the sulphate of barytes, and resting 
on limestone rock. The rock is struck at a depth of from fifteen to 
twenty feet, and is a metalliferous limestone, of a semi-crystalline struc- 
ture, lying in horizontal beds. It is traversed by veins of lead-ore. 
Sometimes these expand in the shape of caves, where masses of galena 
occur. 

The most valuable substance accompanying the lead-ore, is an ore of 
zinc, which is found at several of the mines. Another substance, found 
with the ore in considerable quantities, is the sulphate of barytes. This 
is sometimes in immediate connection with the ore, but more frequently 
in contiguous masses, in the clay. 

The sulphate of barytes, called ^i^ by the lead-diggers here, is the same 
substance called cawh by English miners. It is very white, opaque, and 
very heavy, and may be considered as the proper matrix of the lead-ore. 

There are also found considerable quantities of calcareous spar, parti- 
cularly in the caves and veins in rock. This substance is often observed 
in large orbicular or irregular masses, which have the appearance of 
external attrition. On breaking them, they fall into rhombs, which are 
very transparent and glittering ; in color, they are either white, or honey- 
yellow. 

Pyrites are common at the mines, sometimes crystallized in regular 
cubes of a beautiful brass-yellow color, and, at others, found in tabular 
masses, or mixed with blende, sulphate of barytes, or calcareous spar. 
Quartz is found throughout the whole mine district, both on the surface 



172 APPENDIX. 

of the ground, and at all depths below. It is generally in the form of 
tabular pieces, whose sui'faces are thickly studded over with small pyra- 
mids of transparent rock-crystal, and present an appearance of the ut- 
most beauty and splendor, looking like so many diamonds set over the 
surface of white stone. These crystals are frequently grouped in the 
form of a hemisphere, circular, or oviform, solitary or in clusters, forming 
the different varieties of mamillary and radiated quartz, and, when met 
with in their pristine beauty, present a very rich and brilliant appear- 
ance. It has acquired the popular name of blossom of lead, or mineral 
blossom, a term perfectly significant of its supposed affinity. 

The exterior stratum of red clay, with its ores and minerals, will be 
best understood by comparing it to a garment thrown over the rock- 
formations of the country. The search for ore has been generally con- 
fined to these clay diggings, which are pursued, very much, with the 
apparatus of common well-digging. If, on reaching the rock, no vein of 
ore is discovered, the work is generally dropped. 

On viewing the district on a large scale, this external clay stratum 
appears to have originally derived its mineral contents from veins in the 
calcareous, lead-yielding rock. This metalliferous rock has evidently, in 
former ages, been scooped out by rivers and streams, forming valleys and 
vast diluvial plateaux, where the abraded materials were deposited. The 
original subterranean veins were concealed by these geological changes. 

Some of the mines exhibit traits that may be mentioned. Mine La 
Motte is one of the oldest mines in the Territory, having been discovered 
in 1720, by the person whose name it bears. The mines are very exten- 
sive, and a large quantity of ore is annually raised. They are situated 
within two miles of St. Michael, Madison count}', and on the head-waters 
of the river St. Franqoia. No spars are found accompanying the ore ; 
iron pyrites is occasionally met with, and plumbago is found in the vici- 
nity. The ore, which is less brilliant, and differs in other characters 
from any other in the mine tract, is at the same time more refractory ; in 
some instances, the greatest difficulties have been experienced in the 
smelting. Hence, an idea has originated that it is combined with other 
metals ; but no experiments, I believe, have been made to ascertain this 
point. 

On a visit to these mines, I observed the inside of the ash-furnace 
beautifully tinged with a blue color of considerable intensity. This fur- 
nace is built of a white sandstone, which becomes vitrified on the surface, 
forming glass. We are acquainted with no substance which will commu- 
nicate a blue color to glass in fusion but cobalt ; hence, it is not unrea- 
sonable to infer that this metal is volatilized during the smelting, and is 
thus brought into contact with the liquefied surface of the stone, impart- 
ing to it the color noticed. That the ores of La Motte contain an unusual 
portion cf sulphur, is very probable. I draw this inference both from its 
refractory nature and dull appearance. Sulphur always renders an ore 



POSITION OF THE MINES. 173 

refractory ; for, when it is expelled by torrefaction, the ore melts easily. 
Its dull aspect is not less conclusive ; for, the more an ore is roasted, and 
the more sulphur there is driven off, the brighter it grows. This is evi- 
dent to every smelter, who cannot fail to observe the surprising brilliancy 
the ore assumes after it has gone through the first operation in the log 
furnace. That the difficulties daily experienced in smelting the La Motte 
ores are, therefore, attributable to the extraordinary quantity of sulphur 
they contain, is extremely probable ; for, even if they were united with 
other metals, with silver or with cobalt, these would not increase their 
infusibility, except by the extra quantum of sulphur they brought with 
them. At least, wo have no facts to prove that a simple alloy does not 
melt as easily as a pure metal, while there are many to show that alloys 
are of the most easy fusibility. 

The quantity of ore raised at New Diggings has been very great, a 
regular vein having been found ; but they were abandoned several years 
ago on account of the water, which rushed in with such rapidity, that to 
remove it every morning with a common windlass and bucket was found 
a work of such labor as to render the business unprofitable. The mines 
were left with the most flattering veins of ore in view. The general cha- 
racter of these mines is such as to justify the erection of a steam-engine, 
and other works for prosecuting the business on an extensive scale ; and 
their revival at some future period may be confidently looked for. 

Mine Renault is situated about six miles north-north-west of Mine a 
Burton, in a very rocky part of the country, which affords some of the 
most picturesque views of mountain scenery. The region is strongly 
marked by mineral appearances, rendering it probable that other sub- 
stances of value, besides lead, may exist in that vicinity. Ores of zinc 
are abundant at this mine, and a body of micaceous oxide of iron is found 
in the neighborhood. 

Bryan's Mines are seated on Hazel run, and are among the most recent 
discoveries of consequence. Near a million pounds of lead were made 
hero during the first year of the discovery. The mine is characterized 
by yielding no heavy spar ; sometimes a little calcareous spar is found, 
and then adhering to the ores ; a circumstance which I have nowhere else 
observed. Much of the ore of these mines is found in tabular pieces, 
which are sonorous in a considerable degree ; the ore is brilliant, and 
smelts readily, yielding the same as at Mine a Burton. 

Gray's Mine, situated on Big river, in the northern extremity of the 
mine tract, is remarkable for a body of white clay, which was discovered 
in searching for ore. In sinking several pits at this mine, a stratum of 
clay of an unusual appearance was struck at the depth of from eight to 
ten feet, and no ore was procured at those places ; the diggings were 
abandoned in consequence of the clay, which covers a considerable area 
of ground on the banks of Big river. Tnis mineral substance bears a 
striking resemblance to specimens of a pyrous crucible clay. 

15* 



174 APPENDIX. 

Elliott's Mines He upon the Mineral Fork, and are characterized by the 
abundance of pyrites, and the beauty of the calcareous spar found there. 
Considerable quantities of blende were also met with, and strong indica- 
tions of the existence of copper are furnished. During the remarkable 
earthquakes of 1812, a fine spring of water at the mouth of the mines 
suddenly became warm and foul, and in a few days dried up entirely, and 
no water has run there since. Illuminations in the atmosphere (arising 
doubtless from phosphorus) are frequently observed in this vicinity on 
the approach of night. 

At Mine ^ Burton, there is found adhering to the sides of the log-hearth 
furnace, a grayish-white sublimated matter, of great weight, which I take 
to be a sublimate of lead. It is considered as chiefly sulphur or arsenic 
by the lead-smelters, and is thrown by as useless. It is found at every 
furnace, and a very large quantity could be annually collected. This 
induced me to undertake some experiments on the subject. I was con- 
vinced, on reflection, that there could be no sulphur, at least no consider- 
able quantity of sulphur, in it, from the fact that all sulphur, or other 
inflammable matter, expelled from the ore in the furnace, would undergo 
immediate combustion. This is also'observable in the color of the flame 
while the ore is torrified. Indeed, every person conversant with the 
nature of this substance must know that it cannot be otherwise. The 
furnace is entirely open, and does not rise over seven or eight feet in 
height ; consequently, there is no opportunity for it to condense. That 
the sulphuric acid is driven off, is undoubted ; for, whenever sulphur is 
burned, this acid is set at liberty ; but it has no opportunity for entering 
into a new combination within the body of a log furnace. 

The idea of arsenic in the substance alluded to, is perfectly erroneous, 
and has originated in an ignorance of the nature of the ores of these 
mines. It is the sidplmret of lead, and not the arseniate. That there is 
a small portion of silver and antimony in combination with the ore, is 
probable ; but they too are mineralized by sulphur. Reflecting on this, 
I became convinced of the popular error, and, to ascertain the point, 
made the following experiments : 

A. I took a lump of the sublimated matter, freed from adhering impu- 
rities, and reduced it to the state of a fine powder by pulverizing in an 
agate mortar, and trituration. Of this I mixed six parts with four of pul- 
verized borax, and a little charcoal, and submitted it to the intense heat 
of a small chemical furnace. On removing the crucible, I found a button 
of metallic lead in the bottom, weighing nearly four. 

B. Dissolved a quantity of the powdered sublimate in nitric acid ; it 
effected a ready solution, with violent effervescence. Poured on liquid 
carbonate of potash until no more precipitate fell. I then collected the 
precipitate, and washed away the superfluous alkali by clear water, and 
dried it in the shade. The result was a very fine, and a very white pow- 
der, of considerable weight. This was a carbonate of lead (white lead). 



POSITION OF THE MINES. 175 

With a quantity of the white lead thus made, I mixed linseed oil, and 
painted a board. The color was of the most delicate white, and it gave 
a good body. On inspecting this board several months afterwards, I 
found the color inclining a little to yellowish. But perhaps it stands as 
well as any white lead would, prepared from litharge, by solution in nitric 
or acetic acids, and precipitation by carbonated alkali. 

C. Mixed eight parts of sublimate with twelve of muriate of soda, and 
fused in a crucible, with a tight cover, in a high heat. Result, a yellow, 
hard, heavy, vitrified mass, resembling muriate of soda and lead. 

M'Kain's Mine is situated on a small stream called Dry creek, running 
into Big river not far from its junction with the Maramec. The mine is 
worthy of remark only on account of a body of steel-grained lead-ore 
found there. This ore is found to yield less lead in smelting than the 
common broad-grained ore, and, as may be inferred from its texture, 
contains silver. 

So little has been done, of late years, in mining in the rock, that the 
character of the veins must be judged of from limited facts. But there 
can be no question, from what is known, that the true scene of mining 
operations is the rock. 

Along the west banks of the Mississippi, and also in some of the inte- 
rior valleys, we observe that the metal-bearing limestone rests on crys- 
talline sandstone. Both preserve a horizontal position, and both are 
deposited, at the distance of about seventy miles south of Potosi, upon 
pre-existing formations of sienitic granite, embracing hornblende rock ; 
some of the latter of which is porphyritic. 

These primitive formations mark the geography of the country at the 
sources of the St. Francis. They form alpine peaks, through which the 
river forces its way. Mine k La Motte is within two miles east of this 
tract. These peaks have been raised to their present position without 
disturbing the horizontality of the limestones and sandstones. Honce 
the conclusion of their prior elevation. 

At a still further southern point, and before reaching the banks of the 
St. Francis at Bettis's ferry, the horizontal rocks again appear. But, in 
this instance, sienitic and granitic boulders are scattered over the south- 
ern series of the calcareous strata, showing, with equal clearness, that 
the geological era of the boulder stratum was posterior to the deposition 
of the horizontal strata, and that the force which scattered the boulder 
stratum was from the north. 



SECTION IV, 
METHOD or WORKING THE MINES. 

The method of raising the ores, and the processes pursued in separating 
the metal, are, upon the whole, extremely simple. A pickaxe and shovel 
are the only tools in use. for removing the earth ; and the drill, rammer, 
and priming-rod, are added when it is necessary to blast. Having deter- 
mined on the spot for digging, the process commences by measuring oif 
a square of about eight feet, and throwing out the earth, spar, and gravel, 
until the miner sinks beneath the depth he can throw the earth. An expert 
hand will pitch his earth clear out of the pit from a depth of ten, twelve, 
and even fifteen feet. At this depth a common windlass and bucket are 
placed over the centre of the pit, and the digging continued by drawing 
up the earth, spar, and ores, if any are found, in the manner pursued in 
sinking a well. During his progress, the miner is notified of his approach 
to a body of ore, by small detached lumps occasionally found imbedded 
in the soil, within a few feet of the surface. Sometimes lumps on the 
top of the ground determine on the place for digging. The spar is also 
a sign by which he judges, as there is seldom a body of spar found with- 
out lead-ore. There are also other signs by which an experienced digger 
is advertised of his prospects, and encouraged to proceed with cheerful- 
ness in his work. These are, peculiar appearances in the texture of the 
spar, and sometimes minute specks of ore scattered through it, the 
changes in the color, and other qualities of the earth, gravel, &c. If 
these appearances are promising, and bits of ore are occasionally met 
with, he is encouraged to sink down a great depth ; but if they should 
fail, he is generally induced to abandon the pit, and commence at another 
place. 

In searching for ore, the soil, the slope of the hills, spar, blossom, trees, 

&c., are taken as guides, and some are obstinately attached to these signs. 

Others, who have been fortunate in finding ore where these appearances 

were least promising, wholly disregard them, and pay no attention to 

rules. In general, there is a greater disposition to trust to luck and 

chance, and stumble upon ore, than by attending to mineral character, to 

be sure of success. As those who search by rules are generally incapable 

of those minute remarks on the distinguishing character- and geological 

situation of minerals, which are necessary in order to ensure success, it 

frequently happens that they meet with disappointments. An incident 

of this kind is enough to perplex a man who has not habituated himself 

to reasoning on the subject, and to weaken his belief in the affinity of 

ores and stones. Such a man will not stop to compare and reconcile 

facts, which are seemingly opposite, or to investigate the nature of general 

principles. 

(170) 



METHOD OF WORKING THE MINES. 177 

Hence miners exclaim on the uncertainty of finding ores by rules 
drawn from the observations of science ; that the strata of the earth are 
irregular, and not to be depended upon like the rock formations in 
Europe ; and that, in fine, we have no guides by which its mineral trea- 
sures are to be sought, and that, in so confused a soil, chance is the best 
guide. Such a man is more ready to follow the mysterious guidance of 
the divining-rod than the light of reason, and would be easily persuaded 
that fortune is more surely the result of blind chance, than of feasible 
schemes, well planned and well executed. 

There would be, nevertheless, some truth in the uncertainties and the 
confusion complained of, were those circumstances among the observa- 
tions of scientific men. But it will be hazarding little to say, that when 
such observations are made, there will be found as much regularity, har- 
mony, and order, in the superposition of the strata, as generally exist. 
The few facts I have noticed, lead to this conclusion. 

Having raised a suiEcient quantity of ore for smelting, the next pro- 
cess consists in separating the spar, and cleaning the ore from all extra- 
neous matter. This is done by small picks, tapered down to such a point 
that a careful hand may detach the smallest particle of adhering spar. 
It is necessary that the ore should be well cleaned, as it would otherwise 
prove refractory in smelting. If there be any lumps of uncommon size, 
they are beaten smaller. The object is to bring the lumps as near as may 
be to an uniform size, so that the heat may operate equally in desulphur- 
ating the ore. It is desirable that the lumps should be about the size 
of a man's two fists, or perhaps fifteen pounds' weight : if too small, a 
difficulty and a waste is experienced in smelting. In this state, the ore 
is conveyed to the primary furnace, (see Plate I.) and piled on the logs 
prepared for its reception. When the charge is put in, which may in a 
common way be about five thousand pounds, it is surrounded by logs of 
wood, and covered over at the top, the fire being lit up at the mouth 
below. A gentle warmth is created at first, which is raised very gradu- 
ally, and kept at this point for about twelve hours, to allow the sulphur 
to dissipate ; the heat is then increased for the purpose of smelting the 
ore, and, in twelve hours more, the operation is completed, and the lead 
obtained. Wood is occasionally added as the process goes on, and there 
is a practical nicety required in keeping the furnace in proper order, 
regulating the draught of air, &c., so that some smelters are much more 
expert, and thereby extract a greater quantity of lead from a like body 
of ore, than others. This furnace is called the log furnace, and, so far 
as I know, is peculiar to this country. It is of a very simple construc- 
tion, consisting of an inclined hearth, surrounded by walls on three sides, 
open at top, and with an arch for the admission of air below. Upon the 
whole, it appears well adapted to the present situation and circumstances 
of the neople. It is cheap, simple, may be built at almost any place, and 
answers the purpose very well. A good furnace of this kind may be 

M 



178 APPENDIX. 

built at a cost of from fifty to sixty dollars, every expense considered ; 
and one of the most considerable items in the sum total is the bill of the 
mason, -who cannot be hired, in this region, to work for less than two 
dollars per day. 

Plate I., Figure 1. A Perspective View of the Log Furnace. - 

a, the front wall, 8 feet long, 7 feet in height, and 2 feet in thickness. 

b b, the side walls, 8 feet long, and 2 feet thick. 

c, the hearth, 2 feet wide, and 8 feet in length. 

d d, the ledges on each side of the hearth, 10 inches in height, and 1 foot 
wide. These serve to elevate the logs above the hearth, at the same 
time creating a draught for the air, and passage for the lead. 

e, the eye of the furnace, or arch, 2 feet across at bottom, with an arch 

thrown in a half circle, or a flat stone laid across at the height of 
the ledges. 

f, the iron ladle for dipping out the melted lead. 

g, the iron mould. Every bar of lead cast in this, is called a pig. 

h, the hole in the ground, for the reception of the lead as it runs from 
the furnace. 

Figure 2, is a perspective view of the furnace from the back or open 
part. The same letters used in Figure 1 apply to the same parts of the 
furnace in this figure. 

Figure 3. Ground Plan, 
a, the eye or arch in front. 
6 h, the side walls, 
c, the hearth. 
d d, the ledges. 

The process of charging the furnace may be mentioned. Three large 
oak logs, rolled in from the back side, and resting at each end on these 
ledges, fill up the width of the furnace ; small split logs are then set up 
all around on the two sides and front ; the ore is then piled on until the 
furnace is full, and logs are then piled over it, beginning at the back, 
and continuing over to the front, so that the ore is completely surrounded 
by wood. This furnace is always built on the slope of a hill, as repre- 
sented in Plate I., Fig. 1 ; and the hearth is laid on an angle of 45°, so 
that it falls four feet in a distance of eight. Two furnaces of the size 
here described are generally built together, by which there is a saving 
of the expense of one wall, and the work is rendered stronger, one serv- 
ing as a support to the other. Not only so, but the same number of 
hands will keep a double-eyed furnace in blast, which are required at a 
single one. It takes three hands, one to cart wood during the day-time, 
and the other two to relieve each other alternately, every twelve hours, at 
the furnace. When a charge is melted oflF, the furnace is cooled, new 



Log IffeartJt JPurnacf 




FislU, 






METHOD OF WORKING THE MINES. 179 

logs and upright pieces put in, and the whole operation begun anew. 
Twenty-four houi-s is the time generally allotted for each smelting, but it 
often takes thirty-six ; and when there is bad wood and want of attention, 
it requires still longer, and indeed the result is never so good. 

The ore is estimated to yield, in the large way, fifty per cent, the first 
smelting. A considerable portion of what is put in, however, does not 
become completely desulphurated, and is found in the bottom of the fur- 
nace after cooling. This is chiefly the smallest lumps, which have fallen 
through the apertures that burn between the logs, before they were tho- 
roughly roasted, and thus, getting out of the way of the heat, lie entan- 
gled with the ashes. Some lumps, which are too large, also escape 
complete desulphuration, and either remain unmelted, or else, when the 
fire is raised, melt altogether into a kind of slag, and produce little or no 
metallic lead. This constitutes what are called the lead-ashes. The 
larger pieces, consisting of ore but partially desulphurated, ai*e carefully 
picked out from among the ashes, and added at the next smelting in the 
log furnace ; while the remainder is thrown by in heaps for further 
examination. 

The lead-ashes are still rich in lead, and, when a sufficient quantity 
has accumulated from repeated smeltings, it is taken off to a proper place 
contrived for the purpose, and separated from the cinders, wood-ashes, 
and other adhering impurities. This is done by washing the whole in 
buddies, one set below another, in the manner of the potter, when it is 
necessary to search his clays. The ashes, which consist of clotted lumps 
of a moderate hardness, are first pounded to a gross powder, and then 
introduced into the water through a sieve. The wood-ashes and other 
impurities, being lighter, swim on the top, and, by letting off the water, 
are thus carried away. Fresh water is added, the ashes briskly stirred 
with a hoe, and the water again let off, carrying a further portion of 
impurity with it. By repeating this operation several times, the lead- 
ashes are brought to the required degree of purity. Thus washed, they 
are carried to a furnace of a different construction, called the ash furnace 
(see Plate II.), and undergo a second smelting. 

Plate II., Figure 1. A Perspective Vieio of the Ash Furnace, 
a, the ash-pit, 2 feet wide, 6 feet long, and 20 inches in height. 
&, the mouth of the fire-arch, a foot square. 

c, the mouth of the flue, where the charge is put in. 

d, the iron pot for the lead to flow in, when the furnace is tapped. 

Figure 2, is a longitudinal section through the furnace, at right angles 
with the front, showing the curve of the arch, flue, &c. 
a, the ash-pit. 
6, the grates, 10 inches square, and 3 feet long ; these are pieces of hewn 

stone. 
€, the mouth of the fire-arch. 



180 APPENDIX. 

d, the saniee, consisting of two stones, 3 feet long, and 3 feet 6 inchea 

■wide, ■with a thickness of G or 7 inches. They reach from the bottom 
of the ash-pit to a foot above the basin-stone, the interstice between 
them being rammed full of clay, and the whole measuring 18 inches 
across. (This keeps the lead, slag, &c., from running into the fire- 
arch, and is an important part of the furnace, requiring considerable 
skill and accuracy in the construction.) 

e, the basin-stone, 4 feet square, and 1 foot thick. 

f, the flue, or throat, 10 feet long, 22 inches wide, and 11 inchea in 

height. This must be continued a foot and a half over the mouth 
of the flue, or apron, making the whole length eleven and a half 
feet ; some prefer the flue twelve and a half feet. 

g, the mouth of the flue or apron, where the furnace is charged ; this 

flares from 22 inches to 3 feet, in a distance of 3 feet, (as shown in 
Fig. 3.) 
Ji, the fire-arch, 3 feet high in the centre, 18 inches high where the arch 
begins to spring, and the same over the centre of the basin-stone. 

Figure 3. Ground Plan. 

From a to 6, 8 feet ; from b to c, 8 feet 6 inches ; from a to ^, 8 feet 6 
inches ; from e to^", G feet ; from e to g, 13 feet. 
h, the basin, 4 feet long, and 22 inches wide, except in the centre, where 

it is 24 inches wide. 
i, the flue. 
7c, the mouth of the flue, or apron, 3 feet at the front, and 22 inches in 

the rear. 
I, the santee. 
m, the fire-arch, with grates at bottom. (This is 22 inches wide at each 

end, 24 inches in the centre, and 5 feet long from the inside of its 

mouth to the santee.) 
«, the mouth of the fire-arch. 
0, the iron pot for the lead to flow into, set in the curve made in the wall 

for convenience of tapping. 
p, the curve in the wall for drawing off the slag. 

Figure 4, is a perspective view of the mouth of the flue where the fur- 
nace is charged. 

From rt to 6, G feet ; from a to c, 5 feet ; from a to d, 1 foot. 

c, the mouth of the flue, 22 inches wide, and 11 high. (This flares out 
to 3 feet in the distance of 3 feet, the flue covering half of it, so that the 
heat may be thrown down on the ashes. 

One of the principal points to be attended to in building an ash-furnace 
is the elevation of the flue. It should rise 5\ feet in 10; some prefer 5i 
in 11. If the ascent be too steep, the ore will run down into the basin 



^s7t Furrti*t-rf: 



X"2. 




Pi^.U. 




n^m. 




Pi^JV". 




METHOD OF WORKINa THE MINES. 181 

before it gets hot, which is detrimental. If the ascent be too low, the 
bottom of the flue next to the basin will soon be eaten away by the heat, 
and thus in a short time undermine and destroy the furnace. 

The flux employed is also a matter of moment. Sand, and pulverized 
flinty gravel, are mixed with the lead-ashes before smelting. The object 
of this is to promote the vitrification of the slag, which would otherwise 
remain stiff; the particles of revived lead would not sink through to the 
bottom, but remain entangled with it, and thus be lost. Lime is also 
sometimes employed for the same purpose ; and indeed any earth would 
operate as a flux to the scoriaceous part of the lead-ashes, if added in a 
due proportion, particularly the alkaline earths. Lime and barytes, both 
of which are afi"orded in plenty at the mines, might therefore be advan- 
tageously employed, when no sand or easy-melting silicious gravel could 
be obtained. Good fusible sands are readily attacked and liquefied by 
submitting to heat with oxides of lead, alkaline salts, or any other alka- 
line or metallic flux ; hence their extreme utility in glass, enamels, and 
all other vitrescent mixtures. When, therefore, silicious sand can be 
obtained, it will be found a more powerful flux to lead-ashes than either 
gravel, lime, spars, or any other substance, if we except the fluor spar. 
This is probably better adapted as a flux than even silicious sands ; but 
it has not yet been brought to light at the lead-mines. Perhaps the lower 
strata of the earth may afi"ord it. It is found at a lead-mine near Cave 
in-Rock, on the right bank of the Ohio river, in the State of Illinois, and, 
with the exception of a little found at Northampton, Massachusetts, is 
the only place where this rare, useful, and beautiful mineral, occurs in 
the United States.* 

The situation for an ash-furnace is always chosen on the declivity of a 
hill, as represented in the plate. The inside work, or lining, consists of 
slabs of hewn limestone, laid in clay-mortar, and backed by solid ma- 
sonry. Although a stone less adapted for furnaces could hardly be found, 
yet it is made here to answer the purpose, and is an evidence of the inge- 
nuity of men in making a bad material answer when a good one cannot 

* I was mistaken in supposing this the only locality of the fluate of lime in the 
United States. It has also been found "in Virginia, near 'Woodstock or Miller's 
town, Shenandoah county, in small loose masses, in the fissures of a limestone con- 
taining shells. (Barton.) — In Maryland, on the west side of the Blue Ridge, with 
sulphate of barytes. (Hayden.) — In New Jersey, near Franklin Furnace, in Susses 
county, disseminated in lamellar carbonate of lime, and accompanied with mica 
and carburet of iron ; also near Hamburg, in the same county, on the turnpike to 
Pompton, in a vein of quartz and feldspar. (Bruce.) — In New York, near Saratoga 
Springs, in limestone ; it is nearly colorless, and penetrated by pyrites. — In Ver- 
mont, at Thetford. — In Connecticut, at Middletown, in a vein, and is -accompanied 
by sulphurets of lead, zinc, and irom (Bruce.) — In Massachusetts, at the lead-mine 
in Southampton, where it is imbedded in sulphate of barytes, or granite ; its colors 
are green, purple, <fec. — In New Hampshire, at Rosebrook's Gap, in the White 
(Mountains, in small detached pieces- (Gibbs.)" — Cleveland's Mineralogy. 

16 



182 APPENDIX. 

be found. No sandstone or freestone, of that refractory kind used in 
glass and iron furnaces, is afforded in this vicinity ; and the smelters seem 
to prefer rebuilding their furnaces often, to incurring the expense of 
transporting good infusible sandstones from a distance. It is not perhaps 
duly considered, that a furnace built of refractory materials, although 
expensive in the erection, ■would be sufficiently durable to warrant that 
expense, and outlast several built of limestone, which burn out every 
blast, and have to be rebuilt from the foundation. 

Limestone is a combination of the pure earth lime with carhonic acid 
and water ; it is a carbonate of lime. When subjected to a red heat, it 
parts with its carbonic acid and water, and, if the operation be continued 
long enough, is converted into quicklime. This effect, therefore, takes 
place as well' in the lead-furnace as in the limekiln, and with this differ- 
ence only — that in the former it is laid in a wall, protected in some degree 
from the heat, and will not part with its carbonic acid readily ; while in 
the latter it is broken into comparatively small lumps, exposed to the heat 
on all sides, and is easily and readily converted into quicklime. 

Nevertheless, although this calcination is constantly progressing, an 
ash-furnace will last from fifteen to twenty days, according to the skill 
which has been displayed in its construction, and the particular quality 
of the stone employed. When the stone partakes of clay (alumina), it 
runs into a variety of argillaceous limestone, and is manifestly better 
adapted to resist the effects of fire. Whenever the furnace is cooled, so 
that the stone can attract moisture from the atmosphere, it falls into 
quicklime. This change does not, however, take place rapidly ; for the 
burning has seldom been uniform, and the stones have either been over- 
burned, or not burned enough ; so that it requires several days, and even 
weeks, to assume the powdery state. 

An ash-furnace, built of limestone, is estimated to cost a hundred dol- 
lars. This includes every expense, and such a furnace lasts during one 
blast, say fifteen or twenty days ; perhaps, with great care, it will run a 
month. During this time, from sixty to ninety thousand pounds of lead 
ought to be made. 

When a furnace is completed, it requires several days to dry it, and 
bring it to the proper state for smelting. About ten da^'s are usually 
spent in this. The fire is begun very moderately at first, being only the 
warmth of a hot smoke, and is kept so for the first five days, by which 
means the moisture of the mortar and stone is gradually expelled, and 
without any danger of cracking the stone, or otherwise injuring the fur- 
nace. It is then raised a little every day until the furnace is brought up 
to a full red heat, when it is ready for the first charge of ashes. 

The operation begins by shovelling a layer of ashes on the mouth of 
the flue, then adding a thin layer of sand or flinty gravel as a flux, and 
then more ashes ; and so adding gravel and ashes alternately^ until the 
required quantity is shovelled up. This is suffered to lie here and grow 



METHOD OF WORKING THE MINES. 183 

thoroughly hot before it is shoved down the flue into the basin ; for, if 
introduced cold, it would check the heat too suddenly, and prove inju- 
rious in the result. When hot, the charge is shoved down the flue with 
a long-handled iron hoe, and another portion of ashes and gravel imme 
diately shovelled on the mouth, suffered to heat, and then pushed down 
as before. This operation of heating and charging is continued until the 
furnace has a full charge, which may require about six hours, and in two 
hours more the furnace is ready for tapping. The slag, which is in a 
very fluid state on the top of the lead, is first drawn off, and the aperture 
closed up with stone and mortar. The smelter then goes to the opposite 
side of the furnace, and prepares for drawing off the lead by di'iving a 
stout sharp pointed iron bar through the side of the furnace, at a parti- 
cular place contrived for this purpose. On removing the bar, the metallic 
lead flows out into a large iron pot set in the ground, and accompanied 
by a considerable quantity of a semi-metallic substance, called zane. 
This is lead not perfectly revived, being combined with some earthy par- 
ticles, and oxide of lead. The zane occupies the top of the pot, and is 
first ladled out into hemispherical holes dug in the clay near by. This 
substance is of the consistence of the prepared sand used by brass- 
founders when hot, but acquires considerable solidity when cold. The 
metallic lead is then ladled into iron moulds of about eighteen inches in 
length, and yielding a pig of lead of about fifty pounds each. The quan- 
tity of zane made at each tapping is about equal to that of metallic lead. 
This is afterwards taken to the log furnace, and readily converted into 
lead. The lead made at the ash-furnace is not thought to be of so pure 
a quality as tha.t of the first smelting made at the log furnace. It un- 
doubtedly contains any other metals that may be combined with the ore, 
and is therefore more refractory. Such lead is thought to be a little 
harder, and some pretend to discover a lighter color. 

The lead-ashes are reckoned to yield fifteen per cent, of lead (zane and 
all), which, added to the first smelting, makes an average product of 
sixty-five per cent. This estimate will hold good uniformly, when the 
ores have been properly dressed, and the smelting well performed. Any 
spar adhering to the ore, renders it refractory ; blende and pyrites have 
the same effect. The latter is particularly injurious, as it consists chiefly 
of sulphur ; a substance known to render all ores refractory. 

The slag created by the ash-furnace is a heavy, black, glassy substance, 
well melted, and still containing a portion of lead. Some attempts have 
been made to obtain a further portion of lead from it, by smelting with 
charcoal in a blast-furnace ; but the undertaking has not been attended 
•with complete success, and is not generally thought to warrant the ex- 
pense. The per centage of lead recovered from the slag is not estimated 
at over ten, and, with the utmost success, cannot be reckoned to exceed 
twelve. 

Some practical and miscellaneous observations may here be added. 



184 APPENDIX. 

Metallic lead in the pig is now (Feb. 1819) worth $4 percwt. at the mines. 
It sells for $4 50 on the banks of the Mississippi, at St. Genevieve and 
Herculaneum ; for $5 50 in New Orleans ; and is quoted at $6 in Phila- 
delphia. This is lower than has ever been known before, (except at ovi 
period,) and a consequent depression in the mining business is felt. There 
is a governmental duty of one cent per pound on all bar and pig lead 
imported into the United States ; but it does not amount to a prohibition 
of foreign lead from our markets. Perhaps such a prohibition might be 
deemed expedient. It is what the lead-smelters here call for ; and cer- 
tainly the resources of this country are very ample, not only for supply- 
ing the domestic consumption, but for exportation. 

Those who dig the ore do not always smelt it. The merchants are 
generally the smelters, and either employ their own slaves in raising the 
ore, or pay a stipulated price per cwt. to those who choose to dig. For 
every hundred pounds of ore, properly cleaned, the digger receives two 
dollars. He works on his own account, and runs the risk of finding ore. 
It is estimated that an ordinary hand will raise a hundredweight per day, 
on an average of a year together. This, however, depends much upon 
luck ; sometimes a vast body is fallen upon, with a few hours' labor ; at 
others, many weeks are spent without finding any. lie who perseveres 
will, however, generally succeed ; and the labor bestowed upon the most 
unpromising mine, is never wholly lost. The above average has been 
made by those long conversant with the business, and upon a full consi- 
deration of all risks. 

Custom has established a number of laws among the miners, with 
regard to digging, which have a tendency to prevent disputes. Whenever 
a discovery is made, the person making it is entitled to claim the ground 
for twenty-five feet in every direction from his pit, giving him fifty feet 
square. Other diggers are each entitled to twelve feet square, which is 
just enough to sink a pit, and afibrd room for throwing out the earth. 
Each one measures and stakes ofi" his ground, and, though he should not 
begin to work for several days afterwards, no person will intrude upon it. 
On this spot he digs down, but is not allowed to run drifts horizontally, 
so as to break into or undermine the pits of others. If appearances ai'e 
unpromising, or he strikes the rock, and chooses to abandon his pit, he 
can go on any unoccupied ground, and, observing the same precautions, 
begin anew. In such a case, the abandoned pit may be occupied by any 
other person ; and sometimes large bodies of ore are found by the second 
occupant, by a little work, which would have richly rewarded the labors 
of the first, had he persevered. 

In digging down from fifteen to twenty feet, the rock is generally 
struck ; and as the signs of ore frequently give out on coming to the rock, 
many of the pits are carried no further. This rock is invariably lime- 
stone, though there are many varieties of it, the texture varying from 
very hard and compact, to soft and friable. The former is considered by 



METHOD OF WOKKING THE MINES. 185 

the diggers as a flinty stone ; the latter is called rotten limestone ; and, 
from its crumbling between the fingers, and falling into grains, there is 
a variety of it called sandstone. It is all, however, a calcareous car- 
bonate, will burn into quicklime, and, as I find on experiment, is com- 
pletely soluble in nitric acid. As no remains or impressions of shells, 
animalculaj, or other traces of animal life, are to be found in it, I con- 
clude it to be what geologists term metalliferous limestone ; a conclusion 
which is strengthened by its semi-crystalline fracture. It exhibits 
regular stratification, being always found in horizontal masses. How 
far this formation extends, it would be difiicult to determine ; but, so far 
as my observation goes, it is invariably the basis on which the mineral 
soil at Mine k Burton, and the numerous mines in its vicinity, reposes. 
It is overlaid by secondary limestone in various places on the banks of 
the Mississippi, between Cape Girardeau and St. Louis. It is also seen 
passing into a variety of secondary marble, in several localities. I 
have seen no specimens of this mineral, however, which can be consi- 
dered as a valuable material in sculpture. 

I have already mentioned Hie per centage of lead obtained by smelting 
in the large way. I shall here add the result of an assay made on the 
ore. One hundred parts of ore yielded as follows : 

Metallic lead 82 

Sulphur driven ofi" by torrefaction 11 

Earthy matter, and further portion of sulphur, either 

combined with the scoria, or driven off by heat. ... 7 by estimation. 

100 

The ore experimented upon was the common ore of Mine k Burton, (ga- 
lena.) I took a lump of the purest ore, completely freed from all sparry 
and other extraneous matter, beat it into a very gross powder, and roasted 
for an hour and a half in a moderate heat, with frequent stirring. On 
vreighing the mass, it had lost 11 of sulphur. I now beat this to a very 
fine powder, and treated it with a' strong flux of nitre and dry carbonate 
of soda, adding some iron filings to absorb the last portions of sulphur. 
The whole was enclosed in a good Hessian crucible, previously smeared 
with charcoal, with a luted cover, and exposed for twenty minutes to the 
high heat of a small chemical blast-furnace. 

The richest species of galena, of which we have any account, is that 
of Durham, England. An analysis of a specimen of this ore by Dr. 
Thompson, gave the following result: 

Lead 85 13 

Sulphur 13 02 

Oxide of iron 5 

98 65 

16* 

f 



186 APPENDIX. 

Many of the English, and nearly all the German ores, are, however, much 
poorer. Of five several experiments made by Vauquelin on ores from 
dijfferent mines in Germany, sixty-five per cent, of lead was the richest, 
and all were united with uncommon portions of carbonated lime and 
silex. 

The button of metallic lead found at the bottom of the crucible in 
chemical assays, contains also the silver, and other metals, if any should be 
present in the ore. So also, in smelting in the large way, the metallic lead 
is always united with the other metals. When ores of lead contain any 
considerable portion of silver, they assume a fine steel grain ; and the 
crystals, which are smaller than in common galena, oftener afi"ect the 
octahedral, than the cubical figure. They are also harder to melt ; and 
the lead obtained is not of so soft and malleable a nature as that pro- 
cured from the broad-grained, easy-melting ore. 

The proportion of silver in lead varies greatly. It is sometimes found 
to yield as high as twelve per cent., and is then called argentiferous lead- 
glance ; but, in the poorest ores, it does not yield more than one ounce 
out of three hundred. To separate the silver from the lead, a process is 
pursued called the refining of lead, or cupellation. This is efi'ected by 
exposing the lead to a moderate heat in a cupel, and removing the oxide 
as soon as it forms on the surface, until the whole is calcined, leaving 
the silver in the bottom of the cupel. The lead in this process is con- 
verted into litharge, the well-known substance of commerce ; and the 
silver is afterwards refined by a second process, in which the last por- 
tions of lead are entirely got rid of. This process is known at the German 
refineries under the name of silber brennen, burning silver. 

The rationale of cupellation is simply this. Lead on exposure to heat, 
with access of air, is covered by a thin pellicle or scum, called an oxide ; 
and by removing this, another is formed ; and so, by continuing to take 
off the oxide, the whole quantity of lead is converted into an oxide. It 
is called an oxide, because it is a combination of lead with oxygen (one 
of the principles of air and of water.) By this combination, an increase 
of weight takes place, so that a hundred pounds of bar-lead, converted 
into the state of an oxide, will weigh as much over a hundred, as the 
weight of the oxygen which it has attracted from the atmosphere. Silver, 
however, on being exposed to heat in the same situation, cannot be con- 
verted into an oxide ; it has no attractive power for oxygen. Hence, 
when this metal is contained in a bar of lead, the lead only is oxygenated 
on exposure in a cupel ; whilst the silver remains unaltered, but con- 
stantly concentrating and sinking, till the lead is all calcined. This is 
known, to a practised eye, by the increased splendor assumed by the 
metal. 

I do not think the ore of Mine h Burton contains a sufficient quantity 
of silver to render the separation an object. This is to be inferred from 
its mineralogical character, from the mathematical figure and size of the 



PRODUCT OF THE MINES. 187 

crystal, its color, splendor, &c. The territory is not, however, it is be- 
lieved, deficient in ores which are valuable for the silver they contain. 
The head of White river, the Arkansas, the Maramec, and Strawberry 
rivers, all afford ores of lead, the appearance of which leads us to conclude 
they may yield silver in considerable quantity. 



SECTION V. 
ANNUAL PRODUCT, AND NUMBER OF HANDS EMPLOYED. 

On this head, it is very difScult to procure proper information. The 
desultory manner in which the mines have been wrought, and the imper- 
fect method in which accounts have been kept, when kept at all, with 
other circumstances, which are in some measure incidental to the opera- 
tions of mining in a new country, oppose so many obstacles in the way 
of obtaining the desired information, that I find it impossible to present 
a correct statement, from authentic sources, of the annual product of the 
mines for any series of years. When Louisiana was first occupied by 
the United States, Mine h Burton and Mine La Motte were the principal 
mines wrought ; but the few Americans who had emigrated into the terri- 
tory, under the Spanish government, were fully aware of the advantages 
to be derived from the smelting of lead, and, united to the emigrant 
population which shortly succeeded, made many new discoveries, and the 
business was pi'osecuted with increased vigor, and to a much greater 
extent. The interior parts of the country, and such as had before been 
deemed dangerous on account of the Indians, were now eagerly explored ; 
and the fortunate discovery of several immense bodies of ore near the 
surface of the ground, whereby the discoverers enriched themselves by a 
few days' labor, had a tendency greatly to increase the fame of the mines, 
and the number of miners. But, as generally happens in new countries, 
among the number of emigrants were several desperate adventurers, and 
men of the most abandoned character. Hence, the mines soon became 
the scene of every disorder, depravity, and crime, and a common rendez- 
vous for renegadoes of all parts. It is by such persons that many of the 
mines were discovered, and several of them wrought ; and it is, therefore, 
no subject of surprise, that, on inquiry, no accounts of the quantity of 
lead made, and the number of hands employed, are to be found. 

To secure the public interest, and remedy, in some degree, the irregu- 
larities practised at the mines, a law was passed in Congress, a few years 
after the cession of Louisiana, reserving all lead-mines, salt-springs, &c., 
which should be discovered on the public lands, subsequent to that pe- 
riod ; and the Governor of the Territory was, at the same time, author- 



188 APPENDIX. 

ized to grant leases to discoverers for three years. The great defect of 
that law appears always to have been, that a specific agent was not at the 
Bame time authorized to be appointed for the general superintendence, 
inspection, and management of mines — an office which, from its nature, 
can never be properly incorporated with that of the territorial executive, 
and which, with every inclination, it is presumed his other avocations 
would prevent him from discharging either with usefulness to the public, 
or satisfaction to himself. But, whatever be the defect of the law, cer- 
tainly the advantages which the government proposed to derive from it 
have not accrued. No revenue, it is understood, has yet been realized 
under it, and we are now as much at a loss how to arrive at a true state- 
ment of the mineral product of Missouri, as if the mines had never been 
a subject of governmental legislation. 

When a discovery of lead has been made, the miners from the neigh- 
boring country have flocked to it, and commenced digging as usual, no 
one troubling himself about a lease ; and thus the provisions of the act 
have been in a great measure disregarded. Men of respectability, and 
of sufficient capital to carry on mining in a systematic manner, have, it 
is believed, been frequently deterred from making applications for leases, 
from the short period for which only they can be granted. It would not 
warrant the expense of sinking shafts, erecting permanent furnaces, gal- 
leries, and other works necessary for prosecuting the business to advan- 
tage ; for, no sooner would such works be erected, and the mines begin 
to be effectually wrought, than the expiration of the lease would throw 
them into the hands of some more successful applicant. 

But, although we have no data to form an authenticated schedule of 
the annual product of the mines for any required number of years, there 
is something to be obtained by collecting and comparing facts, detached 
and scanty as they are. Something also is to be acquired by consulting 
the books which have been kept of late years in the warehouses on the 
Mississippi, where the lead is sent for exportation, and some information 
is also to be gleaned from various other sources. It is from information 
thus obtained that I proceed to an enumeration of the products of the 
different mines, and the number of persons to whom they furnish employ- 
ment and support, satisfied, at the same time, that although the informa- 
tion may not be all that could be desired, yet it is all which, without the 
most extraordinary exertions, could be obtained. 

The amount of crude ore delivered at the furnaces of Mine Shibboleth, 
during one of its most productive years (1811), was something rising of 
5,000,000 of pounds. The ore of this mine is estimated to yield, in the 
large way, from 60 to 70 per cent., reckoned at 62^, which is probably a 
fair average. The product of the mine in 1811 was 3,125,000 pounds. 
Shibboleth is, however, one of the richest mines in the Territory, and this 
is the product of one of those years in which it was most profitably 
worked. It was then a new discovery, vast bodies of ore were found near 



PRODUCT OF THE MINES. 189 

tlie surface, and the number of miners drawn together by the fame of its 
riches was uncommonly great. It has since declined, although the ore 
is still constantly found ; and I am informed by Colonel Smith, the pre- 
sent proprietor, that the product this year (1819) will be about one million 
of pounds. 

The number of persons employed in digging lead at Mine k Burton has 
been constantly lessening for the last four or five years ; and this cele- 
brated mine, which has been worked without interruption for more than 
forty years, and is stated to have yielded as high as three millions per 
annum, is manifestly in a state of decline. During the last summer 
(1818), the greater part of which I resided at that place, there were not 
more than thirty miners employed ; and the' total product of the different 
pits, shafts, and diggings, composing this mine, did not exceed half a 
million of pounds. Of this quantity, Messrs. Samuel Perry & Co. were 
the manufacturers of about 300,000 lbs. They contemplate realizing an 
increased quantity during the present year. John Rice Jones, Esq., is 
also engaged in penetrating the rock in search of ore, with the most flat- 
tering pi'ospects, and is determined, as he informs me, to sink through 
the upper stratum of limestone, and ascertain the character of the suc- 
ceeding formations. It is highly probable, reasoning from geognostic 
relations, that the lower formations will prove metalliferous, yielding 
both lead and copper ; a discovery which would form a new era in the 
history of those mines. The present mode of promiscuous digging on 
the surface would then be abandoned, and peojjle made to see and to 
realize the advantages of the only system of mining which can be perma- 
nently, uniformly, and successfully pursued, viz., by penetrating into the 
bowels of the earth. 

Several other persons of intelligence and capital are also engaged in 
mining at this place, and it is probable that the total amount of lead 
manufactured at this mine during the year 1819 will fall little short of 
one million of pounds. 

It is not to be inferred, however, that because the number of miners at 
Potosi has decreased, the mines are exhausted. On the contrary, there 
is reason to conclude, as already mentioned, that the principal bodies of 
ore have not yet been discovered, and that it is destined to become the 
seat of the most extensive and important mining operations. The ore 
heretofore raised at these mines has been chiefly found in the stratum of 
earth which forms the surface of that country, and is bottomed on 
the limestone. This stratum consists of a stifi" red clay, passing in some 
places into marl, and in others partaking more of the silicious character 
forming a loam, and imbedding the ores of lead, accompanied by the 
various mineralogical species before mentioned. These minerals are often 
of a very attractive character for cabinets. 

The depth of this soil is sometimes thirty feet ; and in this the 
diggings have been chiefly done, requiring no other machinery than is 



190 APPENDIX. 

used in well-digging ; and the stratum of rock has generally put a stop 
to the progress of the miner, although veins of ore penetrating it have 
often invited him in the pursuit. But it requires different tools, ma- 
chinery, and works, for mining in rock ; the process is also more tedious 
and expensive, and is considered especially so by those who have been 
accustomed from their youth to find bodies of ore by a few days' digging 
in the earth, and who, if they should work a fortnight at one place, and 
not fill! upon a bed of ore, would go away quite disheartened. The 
principal search has therefore been made in the sub-stratum of clay, 
■where large bodies of ore are sometimes found by a day's, and sometimes 
by an hour's work. Hence, in the neighborhood of Potosi, the ground 
has been pretty well explored, and more search and labor is required to 
find it than in other and more distant places, where new mines continue 
annually to be discovered. But, with the exception of Austin's shaft, 
who sunk eighty feet, and the mines opened by Jones, the rock at this 
mine remains unpenetrated. Austin found large quantities of ore filling 
crevices in the rock, and the appearances were flattering when the last 
work was done. In sinking down, a change in the rock was expe- 
rienced, passing from compact solid gray limestone, by several grada- 
tions, into a loose granulated limestone, very friable, and easily reduced 
to grains. This stone was in some instances completely disintegrated, 
forming a calcareous sand ; and the most compact bodies of it, on a few 
weeks' exposure at the mouth of the shaft, fall into grains. These grains 
are, however, wholly calcareous, and readily soluble in nitric and muriatic 
acids. The portion which I submitted to experiment was taken up com- 
pletely, nor was any sediment deposited by many months' standing. On 
going deeper, the rock again graduated into a compact limestone, very 
hard, and of a bluish-gray color, in which were frequently found small 
cavities studded over with minute pyramids of limpid quartz. These 
variations in the structure of the earth and rock in that place, are still 
observable by the stones, spars, and other minerals, lying around the 
mouths of the mines ; and, upon the whole, the appearances are such as 
to justify a conclusion that the lower strata of rocks at Potosi, and the 
numerous mines in its vicinity, are of a highly metalliferous character, 
and such as to warrant the expenditures incident to a search. 

From a statement lately drawn up, and certified by the proprietors of 
warehouses at Herculaneum, it appears that the total quantity of pig 
and bar lead, and shot, exported from that place, from January 1, 1817, 
to June 1, 1818, a period of eighteen mouths, was 3,194,249 pounds. 
Herculaneum may be considered the depot for the lead of Mine Shibbo- 
leth, Richwoods, Bellefontaine, a portion of the lead of Mine k Burton 
and Potosi, and a few other mines in that neighborhood. Perhaps nearly 
or quite half of the whole quantity of lead yearly smelted at the Missouri 
mines, is shipped fi'om this place. Here then is an average product of 



PRODUCT OF THE MINES. 191 

2,395,667 pounds per annum, for the years 1S17 and 1818, from those 
mines which send their lead to Ilerculaneum. 

Assuming the ground that these mines produce only half of what is 
annually made at the whole number of mines, which I conclude may be 
a true estimate, we shall arrive at the conclusion, that the annual pro- 
duct of the Missouri mines for those years was four millions, seven hun- 
dred and ninety-one thousand, three hundred and thirty-four pounds. 
This, estimated at the present price of four cents per pound, gives us a 
sum of one hundred and ninety-one thousand, six hundred and fifty- 
three dollars. This is the produce of one year ; and supposing the mines 
to have produced th* same average quantity during every year since they 
have been in possession of the United States, we have a sum of throe 
millions, sixty-six thousand, four hundred and forty-eight dollars ; which 
is more than the original cost of Louisiana, as purchased from France 
during the administration of President Jefferson. Let those who have 
any doubts of the value of our mines, reflect upon this, and consider 
that it was the product of a year when the mines were in a manifest 
state of decline, and wrought wholly by individuals, with a foreign com- 
petition to oppose, and without the benefits resulting from a systematic 
organization of the mining interest. 

Nearly all the lead smelted at the Missouri mines is transported in 
carts and wagons from the interior to St. Genevieve and Ilerculaneum, 
As it must necessarily be deposited for storage at those places, it was 
naturally expected that authentic accounts of the lead manufactured in 
the Territory for many years, might be obtained on application. But in 
this, I experienced some degree of disappointment. At St. Genevieve, 
although a warehouse has been kept at the landing for many years, the 
lead sent to town has not all been stored. From the earliest time, and 
before the establishment of a warehouse by IMr. Janies, the French inha- 
bitants of St. Genevieve had all been more or less engaged in the storage, 
purchase, and traflSc of lead. Every dwelling-house thus became a store- 
Louse for lead, and, in these cases, no regular accounts were kept of the 
quantities received or delivered. The same practice has, in some mea- 
sure, continued since, so that it is impossible to obtain, with any preci- 
cision, the amount shipped from this place. At Herculaneum, a ware- 
house has been kept since the year 1816 ; and on application to Mr. 
Elias Bates, the proprietor, he was so obliging as to allow me permission 
to peruse his book of receipts, for the purpose of making extracts. The 
following details embrace the receipts of lead at that place for a period 
of two years and eleven months, ending May 18, 1819. 



192 APPENDIX. 

I. A Se]-ies of Receipts, from June 16, 181G, to December 31 of the same 
year, being a period of six months and fourteen days. 

Fol. 1. Aggregate of receipts 52,781 lbs. 

2 57,097 

3 55,039 

4 58,892 

5 50,639 

6 63,787 

7 55,663 

8 47,287 

Aggregate of separate individual acc'ts during same period. 322, 134 

Total 763,319 

II. A Series of Receipts from Zlst Dec. 1816, to 51st Dec. 1817. 
Fol. 1. Aggregate of receipts 12,375 lbs. 

2 51,521 

3 49,023 

4 60,576 

5 54,242 

6 47,321 

7 60,956 

8 51,420 

9 , 43,774 

10 42,694 

11 47,958 

12 15,482 

537,343 
Aggregate of separate individual acc'ts during same period . 501,903 

Total 1,039,246 

III. A So'ies of Receipts f-om 31st Dec. 1817, to 31st Dec. 1818. 
Fol. 1. Aggregate of receipts 24,261 lbs. 

2 45,981 

3 31,041 

4 39,424 

6 34,711 

6 44,266 

7 31,315 

8 56,442 

9 33,932 

341,372 
Aggregate of separate individual acc'ts during same period. 112,203 

Total 453,575 



PKODUCT OF THE MINES. 193 

IV. A Series of Receipts from ilst Dec. 1818, to ISth May 1819. 

Fol. 1. Aggregate of receipts 14,764 lbs. 

2 44,323 

3 44,628 

103,715 
Aggregate of separate individual acc'ts during same period. 26,211 

Total 129,926 

RECAPITULATION. 

1816 763,319 lbs. 

1817 1,039,246 

1818 453,575 

1819 129,926 

Total 2 386,066 



During eighteen months of the same period, from Dec. 31st, 1816, to 
June 1st, 1818, there was deposited with, and shipped by, sundry other 
persons in Herculaneum, as ascertained by Colonel S. Hammond and M. 
Austin, Esq., 517,495 pounds of lead, together with patent shot, manu- 
factured by Elias Bates and Christian Wilt, to the amount of 608,350 
pounds. For the remaining part of the estimated term, (two years and 
eleven months,) it is reasonable to presume that a like quantity of lead 
was exported through private channels at Herculaneum, and a like quan- 
tity of shot manufactured by Messrs. Bates and Wilt. This will make 
the quantity of pig and bar lead shipped by individuals, 1,034,990 
pounds, and the quantity of patent shot manufactured, 1,356,700 pounds ; 
which two sums, added to the receipts of Mr. Bates's warehouse, as de- 
tailed above, gives us an aggregate amount of 4,757,990 pounds, for the 
period of two years and eleven months. St. Genevieve, as has already 
been mentioned, is probably the storehouse for one-half of the mines, 
and may therefore be estimated to have received and exported the same 
quantity of pig and bar lead during the same period, making a total of 
9,515,512 pounds, which gives an average product of more than three 
million of pounds of lead per annum. 

It would be interesting to know in what proportion the different mines 
have contributed to this amount. The above details show us their col- 
lective importance ; but we should then be enabled to estimate their 
individual and comparative value. With this view, I have compiled, 
from the best information, the following 

17 N 



194 



APPENDIX. 



No. of hands. 

160 

240 

210 

140 



I 910,100.... 80 

600,000 60 

[ 45,000 20 



450,000, 



40 



Mines. Pounds of lead 

Mine h Burton 1,500,000. . 

Mine Shibboleth 2,700,000. , 

Mine La Motte 2,400,000. , 

Richwoods 1,300,000. . 

Bryan's Mines 

Dogget's Mines 

Perry's Diggings.... 

Elliot's Mines 

Old Mines 

Bellefontaine 

Mine Astraddle ..... 

Mine Liberty , 

Renault's Mines ..... 

Mine Silvers 

Miller's Mines 

Cannon's Diggings . . 

Becquet's Diggings . . 

Little Mines 

Rocky Diggings 

Citadel Diggings .... 

Lambert's Mine 

Austin's Mines ..... 

Jones's Mines 

Gravelly Diggings -. 

Scott's Mine ,^ ^„^ 

^. , ,T f }■ 50,000 20 

Mine a Martin ' 

Mine k Robino J 



75,000 30 



.1,160,000 130 



11,180,000 



1130 



In this estimate are included all persons concerned in the operations 
of mining, and who draw their support from it ; wood-cutters, teamsters, 
and blacksmiths, as well as those engaged in digging and smelting lead- 
ore, &c. The estimate is supposed to embrace a period of three years, 
ending 1st June, 1819, and making an average product of 3,726,666 lbs. 
per annum, which is so near the result arrived at in the preceding 
details, as to induce a conclusion that it is essentially correct, and that 
the mines of Missouri, taken collectively, yield this amount of pig-lead 
annually. 

The United States acquired possession of the mines in the year 1803, 



PRODUCT OF THE MINES. 195 

fifteen years ago last December ; and, assuming the fact that they have 
annually produced this quantity, there has been smelted, under the 
American government, fifty-five million pounds of lead. 

On the view which has now been taken of the Missouri mines, it may 
be proper here to remark — 

1. That the ores of these mines are of the richest and purest kind, and 
that they exist in such bodies as not only to supply all lead for domestic 
consumption, but also, if the purposes of trade require it, are capable of 
supplying large quantities for exportation. 

2. That although at different periods the amount of lead manufiictured 
has been considerable, yet this produce has been subject to perpetual 
variation, and, upon the whole, has fallen, in the aggregate, far short of 
the amount the mines are capable of producing. To make these mines 
produce the greatest possible quantity of lead of which they are capable, 
with the least possible expense, is a consideration of the first political 
consequence, to which end it is desirable that the reserved mines be dis- 
posed of, to individuals, or that the term for which leases are granted be 
extended from three to fifteen years, which will induce capitalists, who 
are now deterred by the illiberality of governmental terms, to embark in 
mining. That there be laid a governmental duty of two and a half cents 
per pound on all imported pig and bar lead, which will exclude foreign 
lead from our markets, and afi"ord a desired relief to the domestic manu- 
facturer. The present duty is one cent per pound. But this does not 
prevent a foreign competition ; and the smelters call for, and appear to 
be entitled to, further protection. 

3. That although the processes of mining now pursued are superior to 
what they were under the Spanish government, yet there is a very mani- 
fest want of skill, system, and economy, in the raising of ores, and the 
smelting of lead. The furnaces in use are liable to several objections. 
They are defective in the plan, they are constructed of improper mate- 
rials, and the workmanship is of the rudest kind. Hence, not near the 
quantity of metallic lead is extracted from the ore which it is capable, 
without an increase of expense, of yielding. There is a great waste 
created by smelting ore in the common log furnace, in which a consider- 
able part of the lead is volatilized, forming the sublimated matter which 
adheres in such bodies to the sides of the log furnaces, and is thrown by 
as useless. This can be prevented by an improvement in its construction. 
To pursue mining with profit, it is necessary to pursue it with economy ; 
and true economy is, to build the best of furnaces, with the best of mate- 
rials. At present the furnaces are constructed of common limestone. 
which soon burns into quicklime, and the work requires rebuilding from 
the foundation. Not only so, but the frequency with which they require 



196 APPENDIX. 

to be renewed, begets a carelessness in those who build them, and the 
work is accordingly put up in the most ordinary and unworkmanlike 
manner. Instead of limestone, the furnaces ought to be constructed of 
good refractory sandstone, or apyrous clay, in the form of bricks, which 
will re^-ist the action of heat for a great length of time. Both these sub- 
stances are the production of that country, and specimens of them are 
now in my possession. 

4. From the information afforded, it has been seen that the mines are 
situated in a country which affords a considerable proportion of the rich- 
est f\irming-lands, producing corn, rye, wheat, tobacco, hemp, flax, oats, 
&c., in the greatest abundance, and that no country is better adapted for 
raising cattle, horses, hogs, and sheep. The country is well watered, 
and with the purest of water ; the climate is mild and pleasant, the air 
dry and serene, and the region is healthy in an unusual degree. Every 
facility is also afforded by its streams for erecting works for the manu- 
facture of white and red lead, massicot, litharge, shot, sheet-lead, mineral 
yellow, and the other manufactures dependent upon lead. The country 
also abounds with various useful minerals besides lead, which are calcu- 
lated to increase its wealth and importance. It is particularly abundant 
in iron, zinc, manganese, sulphur, salt, coal, chalk, and ochre. 

5. That a systematic organization of the mining interest would have a 
tendency to promote the public welfare. To this end, there should be 
appointed an officer for the inspection and superintendence of mines. 
He should reside in the mine country, and report annually to the proper 
governmental department on the state of the mines, improvements, &c. 
His duty should consist in part of the following items, viz. : 

a. To lease out public mines, and receive and account for rents. 

b. To prevent the waste and destruction of wood on the public lands. 

c. To see that no mines were wrought without authority. 

d. To keep the government informed, periodically, of the quantity of 

lead made at the different mines, and of new discoveries of lead, or 
any other useful minerals ; and, 

e. To explore, practically, the mineralogy of the country, in order fully 

to develope its mineral character and importance. Connected with 
these duties, should be the collection of mineralogical specimens for 
a national cabinet of natural history at Washington. 

The superintendent of mines should be a practical mineralogist, and 
such a salary attached to the office as to induce a man of respectable 
talents and scientific acquirements to accept the appointment. To allow 
the manufacturers of lead every advantage consistent with the public 
interest, the rent charged on mines should not exceed two and a half 
per cent, on the quantity manufactured, which is equivalent to the pro- 
posed governmental duty on imported lead, whereby the revenue would 



PRODUCT OF THE MINES. 197 

not only be kept up, but might be considerably enhanced. The fore- 
going details exhibit an annual produce of 3,726,666 pounds of lead, 
which, it is presumable, may be half the quantity the mines are capable 
of producing, with proper management. But, estimating the lead at 
four cents per pound, and taking that as the average quantity, the annual 
rents, at two and a half per cent., will create a revenue of thirty-two 
thousand four hundred and ninety dollars. 

This subject is believed to be one that commends itself to the attention 
of the government, which has, from a policy early introduced, reserved 
the mineral lands on the public domain. No one can view it in the 
light of these facts, without perceiving the propriety and necessity of an 
efficient organization of this branch of the public interest. 



17* 



MINERALOGY. 



A CATALOGUE OE THE MINERALS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 

Ix the arrangement of this catalogue, the order introduced in Professor 
Cleveland's niineralogical tables, has been chiefly observed. It is the com- 
mencement of an investigation into the physical history, character, and 
mineral resources of the West, which it will become the duty of future 
observers to continue and perfect. The field is an extensive one, and 
invites attention. The order and beauty that are observed in this branch 
of natural history, afford as striking proofs as any of the other depart- 
ments of it, of that design which, in so remarkable a manner, pervades 
the organization of the various classes of bodies, animate and inanimate, 
on the surface of the globe. So far as respects mineralogy, its species 
and varieties have not all been seen, in crystallized forms, agreeably to 
our imperfect state of microscopical knowledge ; but as far as the species 
have been brought within observation, in the classes of crystals and crys- 
tallized ores, they rival, in their colors and exact geometrical forms, other 
systems of bodies. 

In revising the list, those specimens are dropped, respecting which 
further reflection or examination has shown, either that the early descrip- 
tions were imperfect, or that the quantity of the mineral was deficient. 

I. Alkaline and Earthy Salts. 

1. Nitrate of potash Nitre. 

2. Muriate of soda Salt. 

3. Sulphate of barytes Heavy spar. 

4. Carbonate of lime Calc. spar. 

a. Rhombic crystals. 

b. Concrete forms. 

5. Fluate of lime Fluor spar. 

6. Sulphate of lime Gypsum. 

7. Sulphate of magnesia Magnesia. 

8. Sulphate of alumine and potash. Alum. 

(198) 



MINERALS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 



199 



II. Earthy 


Compounds and Stones. 


9. Quartz. 




a. Hexagonal crystals. 


h. Red ferruginous quartz, 


b. Kadiated. 


i. Tabular " 


c. Chalcedony. 


J. Granular " 


d. Agatized wood. 


k. Hoary " 


e. Agate. 


I. Carnelian. 


y. Jasper. 


TO. Buhrstone. 


g. Hornstone. 


n. Opalized wood. 



10. Pumice. 

11. Mica. 

12. Feldspar. 

13. Hornblende. 

14. Greenstone porphyry. 

15. Clay. 

a. Native alumine. 

16. Basanite. 

17. Indian pipestone. 

Opwagonite. 

18. Schcerl. 

19. Novaculite. 



c. Reddle. b. Indurated clay. 



20, 



21. 
22. 



III. Combustibles. 
Sulphur. 

a. Crystallized. 

b. Concrete. 
Graphite. 
Coal. 

a. Slaty-bituminous. 

b. Wood-coal. 
Bituminous shale. 

IV. Metals. 

23. Native copper. 

24. Iron. 

25. Sulphuret of iron. 

26. Iron glance. 

27. Micaceous oxide of iron. 

28. Brown oxide of iron. 

29. Ironstone. 

30. Argillaceous oxide of iron. 

31. Ochrey oxide of iron. 

32. Sulphuret of lead. 

a. Common galena. 

b. Specular. 

c. Granular. 

d. Cobaltic. 



200 APPENDIX. 

33. Carbonate of lead. 

34. Earthy oxide of lead. 

35. Sulphuret of zinc. 

36. Sulphuret of manganese. 

First Class. 

1. Nitre — Saltpetre. This salt, in its efflorescent state, exists exten- 
sively in the limestone caves of Missouri and Arkansas. It also impregnates 
the masses of earth found in these recesses. This earth is lixiviated -with 
wood-ashes, which allows the nitre to take a crystalline form. I visited 
a large cavern, about eighty miles south-west of Potosi, where this salt 
was manufactured, and observed its efflorescences in other caves in the 
Ozark range. 

2. Muriate of Soda. About one hundred and fifty thousand bushels 
of common salt are annually made from the United States' saline on Salt 
river, in Illinois. It appears, from the remains of antique broken vessels 
found in that locality, to have been manufactured there by the ancient 
inhabitants. There is a saline, which has been profitably worked, on 
Saline creek, in St. Genevieve county. Two salt springs are worked, in 
a small way, in Jefierson county. Mo. The springs in Arkansas are 
reported to be extensive, and rumors of rock-salt on its plains have been 
rife, since the purchase of Louisiana. The hunters whom I met in tbe 
Ozark range, invariably affirmed its existence, in crystalline solid masses, 
in that quarter ; from which also, it is to be recollected, De Soto's scouts 
brought it, in 1542. 

3. Sulphate of Barytes — Heavy Spar. This mineral is found, in con- 
siderable quantities, at the principal lead-mines of Missouri, west of the 
Mississippi. It presents its usual characters — it is heavy, white, shining, 
opaque, and easily fractured. It is sometimes found crested, columnar, 
prismatic, or in tabular crystallizations. Its surface is frequently covered 
by a yellowish, ochrey earth, or ferruginous oxide. It sometimes exists 
as the matrix of the sulphuret of lead — more frequently, as one of its 
accompanying minerals. 

4. Carbonate of Lime. 

a. Cdlc. Spar. This form of the carbonate of lime is common in the 
lead-mine regions of Missouri. At Hazel run, it constitutes, to some 
pxtent, the gangue of the lead-ores. It is generally imbedded in lumps 
in the red clay mineral soil. These lumps are round, externally ; but, 
on being broken, reveal a rhomboidal structure, and are beautifully 
transparent. 

b. Stalactites. This form of the carbonate of lime is found in a cave 
on the head-waters of Currents river, in Missouri. The stalactites are 
found in concretions resembling icicles hanging from the roof, or in 



MINEKALS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 201 

columns re^iching to the floor. Tlie specimens are translucent. Stalac- 
tites are also found in a very large cave (Winoca) on Findley's fork, one 
of the tributaries of White river, Arkansas. They form two large vases 
in this cave, which are filled with the most crystalline water. 

c. Stalagmite (Calcareous Alabaster). The cave which has just been 
mentioned on Findley's fork, affords this mineral in small, solid globules, 
which strew the floor of the cave. 

5. Fluor Spar. The elevated lands on the west banks of the Ohio, 
near the picturesque shores of Cave-in-Rock, in Illinois, disclose this 
mineral. It exhibits its well-known character. It is generally of a pur- 
ole, or amethystine hue, and crystallized, as its primary form, in cubes. 
Externally, these crystals are dull. Its association here is with the ores 
of lead, which have been extensively searched for in former times. It is 
plentifully found, sometimes in large crystals, which have an external 
appearance as if they had been subjected to the influence of turbid water. 
It has been thus far, chiefly, explored in the diluvial stratum. 

6. Gypsum. Foliated masses of this mineral occur in the river cliffs in 
St. Clair county, Illinois. It is found in large quantities near the salines 
in Upper Arkansas. Dr. Sibley, speaking of the formation in that vici- 
nity, aays : " It is a tract of about seventy-five miles square, in which 
nature has arranged a variety of the most strange and whimsical vaga- 
ries. It is an assemblage of beautiful meadows, verdant ridges, and 
rude misshapen piles of red clay, thrown together in the utmost apparent 
confusion, yet affording the most pleasing harmonies, and presenting in 
every direction an endless variety of curious and interesting objects. 
After winding along for a few miles on the high ridges, you suddenly 
descend an almost perpendicular declivity of rocks and clay, into a series 
of level and fertile meadows, watered by some beautiful rivulets, and 
adorned here and there with shrubby cotton trees, elms, and cedars. 
These meadows are divided by chains formed of red clay, and huge 
masses of gypsum, with here and there a pyramid of gravel. One might 
imagine himself surrounded by the ruins of some ancient city, and that 
the plain had sunk by some convulsion of nature more than one hundred 
feet below its former level ; for some of the huge columns of red clay rise 
to the height of two hundred feet perpendicular, capped with rocks of 
gypsum, which the hand of time is ever crumbling off, and strewing in 
beautiful transparent flakes, along the declivities of the hill, glittering 
like so many mirrors in the sun." 

7. Sulphate of Magnesia. A large and curious cavern has been dis- 
covered in the calcareous rocks at Corydon, near the seat of government 
of Indiana, which is found to yield very beautiful white crystals of this 
mineral. To what extent these appearances exist, is unknown ; but the 
cavern invites exploration. 



202 APPENDIX. 

8. Alum. EfBorescences of the sulphate of alumina exist in a calca- 
reous cavern in the elevated ranges of Bellevieu, in the county of Wash- 
ington, Mo. No practical use is made of it. 

9. Quartz. This important family of mineral bodies exists, in many 
of its forms, on the west banks of the Mississippi. They "will be noticed 
under their appropriate names. 

a. Granular Quartz. There is a very large body of this mineral about 
eight miles west of St. Genevieve, near the Potosi road. It is known as the 
site of a remarkable cave. The sides, roof, and floor of the cave, consist 
of the most pure and white granular quartz. It is quite friable between 
the fingers, and falls into a singularly transparent and beautiful sand. 
Each of these grains, when examined by the microscope, is found to be a 
transparent molecule of pure quartz. It possesses no definable tint of 
color, is not acted upon by either nitric or muriatic acids, and appears to 
be an aggregation of minute crystals of quartz. It occurs in several 
caves near the road, whose sides are entirely composed of it ; and its 
snowy hue, and granular structure, give it the appearance of reined 
sugar. It appears to me to be composed of silex nearly or quite pure, 
and possesses, as I find on treatment with potash, the property of easy 
fusibility. Could the necessary alkali and apyrous clays be conveniently 
had at this spot, I cannot conceive a more advantageous placs for a 
manufactory of crystal glass. 

b. Radiated Quartz. This mineral is found in great abundance at the 
Missouri lead-mines, where it bears the striking name of mineral blossom, 
or blossom of lead — an opinion being entertained that it indicates the 
presence or contiguity of lead-ore. Examined with care, it is found to 
consist of small crystals of quartz, disposed in radii, which resemble the 
petals of a flower. These crystals are superimposed on a basis consisting 
of thin lines, or tabular layers, of agate. It is found either strewn on 
the surface of the soil, imbedded in it, or existing in cavities in the 
limestone rock. 

c. Chalcedony. This species is brought down the Mississippi or Mis- 
Bouri, and deposited in small fragments along the Missouri shore. It also 
constitutes the principal layers in the thin tabular, or mamillary masses, 
which constitute the basis of the radiated quartz. Most commonly, it is 
bluish-white, or milk-white. 

d. Agatized Wood. Fragments of this mineral are brought down the 
Missouri, and deposited, in occasional pieces, along the banks of the 
Mississippi. 

e. Huiiistone — Chert. This substance appears to have been imbedded 
extensively in the calcareous strata of the Mississippi valley ; for it is 
scattered, as an ingredient, in its diluvions. Frequently it is in chips, or 
fragments, all of which indicate a smooth conchoidal fracture. Sometimes 
it consists of parts of nodules. Sometimes it is still solidly imbedded in 



MINERALS OP THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 203 

the rock, or consolidated strata, as on the coast below Cape Girardeau, 
Mo. Indeed, so far as observation goes, it characterizes all the district 
of country between the western banks of the Mississippi river, and the 
great prairies and sand deserts at the foot of the Rocky mountains. Its 
color is generally brown, with different shades of yellow, black, blue, or 
red. It appears nearly allied to flint, into which it is sometimes seen 
passing. It runs also into varieties of jasper, chalcedony, and common 
quartz; and the different gradations from well-chara.cterized hornstone, 
until its distinctive characters are lost in other sub-species of quartz, may 
be distinctly marked. The barbs for Indian arrows, frequently found in 
this region, appear to have been chiefly made of hornstone. 

f. Jasper. This mineral also appears to have been imbedded in the 
silico-calcareous rocks of the western valley ; and it is found, in the frag- 
mentary form, on the banks of the Mississippi, and also on its plains 
below the Rocky mountains. The fine yellow egg-shaped pebbles of 
White river, are common jasper. Several specimens, picked up in a 
desultory journey, possess striking beauty. The first is a uniform bottle- 
green, very hard, and susceptible of a high polish. The second is the 
fragment of a nodular mass, consisting of alternate concentric stripes of 
green, brown, and yellow; the colors passing by imperceptible shades 
into each other. A specimen found in Potosi consists of alternate stripes 
of rose and flesh red. 

g. Agate. This mineral is picked up, in a fragmentary form, along 
the banks of the Mississippi. Its original repository appears to have 
been the volcanic and amygdaloidal rocks about its sources, which have 
been extensively broken down by geological mutations, during ante-his- 
torical periods. The fragments are often beautifully transparent, some- 
times zoned or striped. Sometimes they are arranged in angles, present- 
ing the fortification-agate. The colors are various shades of white and 
red, the latter being layers of carnelian. All the pieces found in this 
dispersed state are harder than the imbedded species, and are with diffi- 
culty cut by the lapidary. 

h. Opal. A single specimen of this mineral, from the right banks of 
the Ohio, near Cave-in-Rock, Illinois, is of a delicate bluish-white, and 
opalesces on being held to the light. It is not acted on by acids. This 
locality is remarkable as yielding galena, heavy spar, blende, calcareous 
spar, fluor spar, pyrites, coal, and salt. It belongs to the great secondary 
limestone formation of the Ohio valley. It is cavernous, and yields some 
fossil impressions. 

i. Red Ferruginous Qnartz. This occurs as one of the imbedded mate 
rials of the diluvion of the Mississippi valley. 

k. Rock Crystal. Very perfect and beautiful crystals of this mineral 
are procured near the Hot Springs of Arkansas. They consist, generally, 
of six-sided prisms, terminated by sis-sided pyramids. Some of these 



'204 APPENDIX. 

are so perfectly limpid, that -writing can be read, without the slightest 
obscurity, through the parallel faces of the crystals. 

1. Fseudomorphoiis Chalcedony. Lake Pepin, Upper Mississippi. This 
appears to have been formed by deposition on cubical crystals, which 
have disappeared. 

m. Tabular Quarlz. West bank of the Mississippi, Missouri. Of a 
white color, semi-transparent. The plates are single, and the lines 
perfectly parallel. 

n. Hoary Quartz. West banks of the Mississippi, Mo. The character 
of hoariness appears to be imparted by very minute crystals, or concre- 
tions of quartz, on the surface of radiated quartz. 

0. Common Quartz. This mineral is found in veins of from one to 
eight or ten feet wide, in the argillaceous rock formation in the vicinity 
of the Hot Springs of Washita. It is also seen, in very large detached 
masses, on the south bank of White river. The character of these rocks 
will not be recognized on a superficial view ; for they have a gray, time- 
worn appearance, and are so much covered by moss, that it was not until 
I had broken off a fragment with a hammer, that I discovered them to be 
white quartz. Pebbles of quartz, either white or variously colored by 
iron, are common on the shores of White river, and, joined to the purity 
and transparency of the waters, add greatly to the pleasure of a voyage 
on that beautiful stream. 

p. Buhrstone. Raccoon creek, Indiana. This bed is noted throughout 
the western country, and affords a profitable branch of manufacture. It 
covers an area of from ten to fifteen acres square. Its texture is vesicu- 
lar, yet it is sufficiently compact to admit of being quarried with advan- 
tage, and the stones are applied to the purposes of milling with the best 
success. 

q. Sedimentary Quartz — Schoolcraftite. This mineral occurs three miles 
from the Hot Springs of Washita. It is of a grayish-white color, partak- 
ing a little of green, yellow, or red ; translucent in an uncommon degree, 
with an uneven and moderately glimmering fracture, and susceptible of 
being sf^ratched with a knife. Oil stones for the purpose of honing 
knives, razors, or tools, are occasionally procured from this place, and 
considerable quantities have been lately taken to New Orleans. It gives 
a fine edge, and is considered equal to the Turkish oil-stone. It appears 
to me, from external character and preliminary tests, to consist almost 
entirely of silex, with a little oxide of iron. Its compactness, superior 
softness, specific gravity, and coloring matter, distinguish it from silicioua 
sinter. It has been improperly termed, heretofore, "novaculite." It 
contains no alumine. It sometimes reveals partial conditions, or spots, 
of a degree of hardness nearly equal to common quartz. 

r. Carnelian. Banks of the Mississippi, above the junction of the 
Ohio. Traces of this mineral begin to be found, as soon as the heavy 
alluvial lands are passed. It is among the finest detritus of the minerals 



MINERALS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 205 

of the quartz family, brought down from upper plains. The fragments, 
in these lower positions, are small, transparent, and hard, colored red or 
yellowish. 

s. Basanite — Touchstone. This mineral is found in the Mississippi 
detritus ; but no fixed locality has been ascertained. 

10. Pumice. The light, vesicular substance, found floating down the 
Missouri and Mississippi, is not, properly speaking, a true pumice, capa- 
ble of the applications of that article in the arts ; but it cannot be classi- 
fied with any other species. It is more properly a pseudo-pumice, arising 
from partial volcanic action on the formations of some of the tributaries 
of the Missouri, which originate in the Rocky mountains. It is brought 
down by the June flood, sometimes in large masses, which, as the waters 
abate, are left on the islands or shores. It is incompletely vitrified, consist- 
ing of spongy globules. The masses are irregularly colored, agreeably 
to the vitrified materials, red, black or brown. Its tenacity is very 
great. 

30. Mica. In the granitical, or primitive district, at the sources of the 
St. Francis. The great body of these rocks is a sienite, or sienitic gra- 
nite, or greenstone. Like the northern granitical tracts, the mica is 
generally replaced by hornblende. The folia, usually, are small. 

31. Feldspar. With the preceding. The great bulk of these grani- 
tical formations consists of red feldspar. Where the greenstone becomes 
porphyritic, the feldspar is a light green. 

32. Hornblende. With the preceding. This mineral assumes its 
crystalline form, in large areas of the sienite rock. With the two pre- 
ceding minerals, mica and feldspar, and common quartz, it constitutes 
the mountain peaks of that remarkable district. It is the only locality, 
except the Washita hills, where these formations rise to an elevation 
above the great metalliferous, sandstone, and carbonaceous deposits of 
the central area of the Mississippi valley, south of the Sauk rapids, above 
St. Anthony's falls, and the head-waters of the St. Peter's, or Minnesota 
river. The latter constitute the northern limits of the great horizontal, 
sedimentary, semi-crystallized rocks west of the Alleghanies. 

33. Greenstone Porphyry. With the preceding. 

34. Puddingstone. In the tongue of land formed by the junction of 
the Ohio with the Mississippi, directly beneath the alluvial lands at the 
old site of fort Massac, and at the village called "America." Also, in 
large, broken blocks, along the west shores of the Mississippi, near the 
" chalk banks," so called, in Cape Girardeau county, and at Cape Garlic, 
on the west banks of the Mississippi. 

18 



206 APPENDIX. 

33. Native Alumine — White, friable, pure Clay. At the head of 
Tiawapeta bottom, Little Chain of Rocks, west banks of the Mississippi, 
Cape Girardeau county, Missouri. This remarkable body of white earth 
is locally denominated chalk, and was thus called in the first edition of 
this catalogue. It is employed as a substitute for chalk, but is found to 
contain no carbonic acid, and is destitute of a particle of calcia. It 
appears, from Mr. Jessup,* to be nearly pure alumine. The traveller, on 
ascending; the Mississippi from the mouth of the Ohio, passes through a 
country of alluvial formation, a distance of thirty-five miles. Here the 
first high land presents itself on the west bank of the river, in a mode- 
rately elevated ridge, running from south-east to north-west, and termi- 
nating abruptly in the bank of the river, which here runs nearly at right 
angles with the ridge, and has been worn away by the action of the water. 
This ridge consists of secondary limestone, overlying a coarse reddish 
sandstone, which, at the lowest stage of the water in summer, is seen in 
huge misshapen fragments, at the immediate edge of the water, and at 
intervals nearly half way across the river, as well as on the Illinois shore. 
The mineral occurs in mass, abundantly. It is nearly dry, of a perfectly 
white color, and chalky friability. It embraces masses of hornstone, 
resembling flint. It also occurs at a higher point on the same shore, two 
miles below the Grand Tower, 

34. Plastic White Cl.\t. Gray's mine, Jefferson county. Mo. 

35. OpwaguxiteI — Geognostic Red Clay. Prairie des Couteau, be- 
tween the sources of the St. Peter's river and the Missouri. It exists in 
lamellar masses, beneath secondary masses. It is of a dull red color, is 
soft, compact, easily cut, and is a material much employed and valued 
Ly the Indians for carving pipes, and sometimes neck ornaments. Occa- 
sionally it has brighter spots of pale red. It is also found on the Red 
Cedar, or Folle Avoine branch of Chippewa river, Wisconsin, of a darker 
color, approaching to that of chocolate. It is polished by the Indians 
with rushes. 

III. Combustibles. 

36. Sulphur. In flocculent white deposits, in a spring, Jefferson 
county, Missouri. 

37. Mineral Coal. Bituminous, slaty coal, constitutes a very large 
geological basin in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, where it appears to 
have resulted from the burial of ancient forests. At Pittsburgh, I found 
it composing thick strata in elevated grounds, on the south banks of the 



* Long's Expedition. 

I From "opwagun," (Algonquin) a pipe; and "lithos," (Gr.) a stone. 



MINERALS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 207 

Monongahela river. ■ In an excursion up that stream, it cliaracterizes its 
banks at intervals for forty miles. It inflames easily, burns with a pitchy 
smoke and bituminous smell, and throws out a great heat. It occurs in 
veins in limestone, along with argillaceous slate, indurated clay, red 
sandstone, and bituminous shale, which are arranged in alternate strata, 
one above the other, preserving an exact parallelism with the waters 
of the Alleghany, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers. The coal alwaj's con- 
stitutes a vein between the shale and clay which are found immediately 
above and below it. The clay appears to have originated from the de- 
composition of shale ; for it may be observed in all stages of the decom- 
position, from a well-characterized argillaceous slate, to plastic clay. 

The veins of coal are from a foot to nine feet in thickness, and the 
strata of coal, shale, limestone, &c., are repeated ; so that the sides of the 
hills which aiford coal, exhibit several strata, with the rock intervening, 
one above another. The greatest distance, in a perpendicular direction, 
from one stratum to another, is perhaps one hundred feet ; and such is 
the regularity of the coal formation in this region, that the description 
of one pit, or bed, will apply almost equally to any other within a circuit 
of two hundred miles, every section of which is characterized by coal. 
Sometimes pyrites of a tin-white color are found mixed among the coal. 
In Missoui'i, it occurs at Florrisant. 

38. GRAraiTE — Plumbago. Twelve miles south of Potosi, Washington 
county. Mo., in a large body. 

39. SULPHURET OF LeaD. 

a. Galena. One of the most remarkable formations of this ore in 
America, if not in the world, is furnished by the metalliferous limestones 
of the Mississippi. Of these, Missouri furnishes one of the most cele- 
brated localities. These mines were first explored by the renowned 
Mississippi Company, in 1719, and have continued to be worked during 
the successive changes which it has experienced under the French, Spa- 
nish, and Americans, to the present period. The number of mines now 
•wrought is about fifty, and the quantity of lead annually smelted is esti- 
mated at three millions of pounds. The ore is the common galena, with 
a broad glittering grain, and bluish-gray color, and is found accompanied 
by sulphate of barytes, blende, pyrites, quartz, and calcareous spar. It 
yields, on assay, eighty-two per cent, of metallic lead, the remainder being 
chiefly sulphui-. (Vide "View of the Lead-Mines.") 

b. Granular Sulphurei of Lead. Mine La Motte, Madison county, 
Missouri. 

c. Cohaltic Sulplivrct of Lead. With the preceding. 

40. Oxide of Lead. Earthy, yellow. Wythe county, Virginia. 



208 APPENDIX. 

41. Carbonate op Lead. Lead-mines of Missouri. It occurs in some 
of the mines as a crust, or thin layer, on ores of galena. 

42. SuLPHURET OF ZiNC. In the form of black blende. Lead-mines 
of Missouri. 

43. Oxide of Zinc. Earthy, grayish-white. In the mineral called 
" dry-bone." Missouri lead-mines. 

44. Iron. 

a. Iron Glance. In the Iron Mountain and Pilot Knob, on the sources 
of the river St, Francis, Missouri. It occurs in vast masses, granular, 
and sometimes specular, without irridescence. Also, on White river, 
Arkansas. 

b. Micaceous Oxide of Iron. Sources of the St. Francis river, Missouri. 
A vein of this ore, several feet wide, is found in red sienite, on the banks 
of the river St. Francis, at the Narrows, Madison county, Missouri Terri- 
tory. Its unusual appearance has for several years attracted the atten- 
tion of the inhabitants. It is situated four miles south of the extensive 
kad-mines of La Motte, and in the centre of a highly interesting geolo- 
gical and mineralogical section of country. The rocks at that place are 
the old red granite and sienite, in mountain masses, with veins of green- 
stone, greenstone porphyry, and gneiss. 

c. Red Oxide of Iron. Flint river, Tennessee. 

d. Brown Hcematite. On the dividing ridge between Strawberry and 
Spring rivers, Arkansas. 

e. Argillaceous Oxide of Iron — Ironstone. Banks of the Monongahela, 
Pennsylvania. 

f. Sulphuret of Iron. Accompanying the ores and vein-stones of the 
Missouri lead-mines. 

g. Magnetic Oxide of Iron. Fifteen miles below the Hot Springs, on 
the Washita river, Arkansas. In quantity. 

45. Black Oxide of Manganese. On Big Sandy river, Kentucky. 
Also, on the sources of the Maramec and Spring rivers, Missouri, accom- 
panied by the brown oxide of iron. 

46. Native Copper. Scattered masses of this metal have been found 
on Big river, and also in a shaft sunk near Ilarrisonville, Illinois. No- 
thing, however, is known in America, to equal the vast quantities of this 
metal found in the trap veins on the banks of lake Superior. 

47. Sulphate of Copper. On the Washita river, fifteen miles below 
the Hot Springs, Arkansas. 



CATALOGUE OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGICAL 

SPECIMENS, (CONTINUED.) 
October, 1819. 

1. Sulphate of lime. Arkansas. 

2. Sulphuret of lead, in quartz. Washington county, Mo. 

3. Agate, from Persia. Brought by Captain Austin. 

4. Serpentine. Derby, Conn. 

5. Galena upon crystallized quartz. Missouri. 

6. Limpid quartz. Hot Springs, Arkansas. 

7. Striped agate. St. Genevieve county. Mo. 

8. Sienite. Persia. 

9. Silicious breccia. Illinois. 

10. Sulphuret of lead. Shangum Mountain, Ulster county, N. Y. 

11. Garnet, in micaceous schistus. Watertown, Litchfield county, Conn. 

12. Galena, iron pyrites, &c., in quartz. Northampton, Mass. 

13. Serpentine. Derby, Conn. 

14. Red granite. River St. Francis, Madison county, Missouri Territory. 

15. Red oxide of zinc. Sussex county, N. J. 

16. Metalliferous limestone. Missouri. 

17. Agate. Strawberry river, Arkansas Territory. 

18. Dolomite. Stockbridge, Mass. 

19. Lamellar galena. Bryan's mines, St. Genevieve county, Mo. 

20. Shell-limestone. Bermuda. 

21. Arseniate of cobalt, vrith nickel, in actynolite. Chatham, Conn. 

22. Galena in quartz. Shangum Mountain, N. Y. 

23. Regulus of antimony. 

24. Granular argillaceous oxide of iron (pea ore). Staten Island, N. Y. 

25. Olivine. Europe. 

26. Indicolite in lamellar feldspar. Chesterfield, Mass. 

27. Brucite, (Gibbs,) silicious fluate of magnesia, in transition carbonate 

of lime, with graphite. Sussex county, N. J. 

28. Sulphate of lime. Nova Scotia. 

29. Serpentine. Hoboken, N. J. 

30. Sulphuret of antimony, with crystals of carbonate of lime. Corn- 

wall, England. 

31. Chalcedony. Easthaven, Conn. 

18 * (209) 



210 APPENDIX. 

32. Arseniate of iron, in quartz. Connecticut. 

33. Arseniate of cobalt, with iron pyrites and copper. Ireland. 

34. Indurated talc. Hoboken, N. J. 

35. Primitive granular limestone. Kingsbridge, N. Y. 

36. Galena in quartz. Wales. 

37. Carbonate and sulphuret of copper, -with calcareous spar, in sand- 

stone. Schuyler's mines, Bergen county, N. J. 

38. Iron pyrites (cubical). Haddam, Conn. 

39. Ferruginous oxide of manganese. Greenwich street, New York city. 

40. Green feldspar. Hoboken, N. J. 

41. Chert. Wales. 

42. Brown haematite. Salisbury, Conn. 

43. Indicolite, in lamellar feldspar. Chesterfield, Mass. 

44. Tremolite. Litchfield county, Conn. 

45. Sappare (Cyanite of Cleveland). Litchfield county, Conn. 

46. Chabasie. Deerfield, Mass. 

47. Anthracite, with quartz. Rhode Island. 

48. Fluate of lime. Derbyshire, Eng. 

49. Asbestos. Milford, Conn. 

50. Zeolite. Giants' Causeway, county of Antrim, Ireland. 
51; Hydrate of magnesia. Hoboken, N. J. 

52. Serpentine (verte antique). Milford, Conn. 

53. do. (pure). Milford, Conn. 

54. Pi'imitive granular limestone, equalling Carrara marble. Stock- 

bridge, Mass. 

55. Precious serpentine. Hoboken, N. J. 

56. Beryl, in granitic rock. Haddam, Conn. 

57. Sediment in the Hot Springs of AVashita, Arkansas Territory. 

58. Asbestos. Milford, Conn. 

59. Talc. Staten Island, Richmond county, N. Y. 

60. Graphic granite. " " " 

61. Amethystine quartz. Easthaven, Conn. 

62. Prehinite. Hartford, Conn. 

63. Jasper. Egypt. 

04. Granite. Greenfield Hill, Conn. 

65. Fibrous carbonate of lime, resembling zeolite. Hoboken, N. J. 

66. Chalcedony. Easthaven, Conn. 

67. Tremolite. Litchfield, Conn. 

68. Sulphuret of antimony. Cornwall, Eng. 
69. 

70. Agate. Corker's Hook, Island of New York. 

71. Sulphuret of molybdena, in granite. Bergen, N. J. 

72. Cellular mass of sandstone and quartz, with crystals of quartz. 

Schuyler's mines, N. J. 

73. Crystallized carbonate of lime, with carb'te of copper. Same mines. 



MINERALS AND FOSSILS. 211 

74. Micaceous oxide of iron. River St. Francis, Madison county, Mo. 

75. Petrified wood. Locality unknown. 

70. Sulphate of copper (blue vitriol), with carbonate of copper, in a fer- 
ruginous sandstone. Schuyler's mines, N. J. 

77. Carbonate of copper. " " " 

78. Agate. South bank of White river, Arkansas Territory. 

79. Sulphuret of lead, carbonate of copper, and yellow oxide of iron. 

Schuyler's mines, N. J. 

80. 81, 82, and 83. Calcareous spar. Lead-mines, Missouri. 
84 and 85. Sulphuret of lead, in sulphate of barytes. " 

86. Argentiferous lead-glance. Mine La Motte, Missouri. 

87. Specular oxide of iron, with quartz. Bellevieu, Washington county, 

Missouri. 

88. Sulphuret of zinc. Lead-mines, Missouri. 

89. Yellow mamillary quartz, incrusted with sulphate of barytes and 

hgematitic iron. Old Mines, Missouri. 

90. Lamellar sulphate of barytes. Lead-mines of Missouri. 

91. Brown haBmatite. Staten Island, N. Y. 

92. Greenstone porphyry. River St. Francis, Madison county. Mo. 

93. Cubical lead-glance, with calcareous spar. Bryan's mines. Mo. 

94. Crested sulphate of barytes. Lead-mines, Missouri. 

95. Pyramidal sulphate of barytes (prism spar). " 

96. Lamellar sulphate of barytes, with galena. " 

97. " with crystals of calcareous spar. " 

98. Blende, with iron pyrites. Elliottis mines, " 

99. Flint. Locality unknown. 

100. Granular sulphuret of lead. Mine La Motte, Missouri. 

101. Pumice of the Missouri river. 

102. Pseudo-volcanic product of same. 

103. Ferruginous sulphate of barytes, on radiated quartz. Lead-mines 

of Missouri. 

104. Crested brown oxide of iron. Jefferson county, Mo. 

105. Radiated quartz, incrusted with sulphate of barytes and iron. 

Potosi, Mo. 
100. Granular lead-ore (a sulphuret). Mine La Motte, Mo. 

107. Brown oxide of iron, crystallized in octohedrons. Washington 

county. Mo. 

108. Mamillary quartz, on a basis of agate. River St. Francis, Mo. 

109. Radiated quartz. Lead-mines of Missouri. 
110. 

111,112, 113, 114, and 115. Mamillary quartz. Lead-mines of Missouri. 

110. Chalky clay. Cape Girardeau, Mo. 

117. Cubical pyrites, with calcareous spar. Mineral Fork, Mo. 

118. Radiated quartz, incrusted with crystallized oxide of iron. Jefferson 

county. Mo. 



212 APPENDIX. 

119. Tabular galena. Bryan's mines, Mo. 

120. Kadiated quartz. Jeiferson county, Mo. 

121. " " Potosi. 

122. Hoary quai'tz (a variety unnoticed in the books). Potosi. 

123. Galena, in heavy spar. Potosi. 

124. " on radiated quartz. " 

125. Carbonate of lime, covered by crystals of quartz. Potosi. 

126. Metalliferous limestone, Potosi. 

107 " " " 

128. Granite. Missouri. 

129. Radiated limpid quartz. Lead-mines of Missouri. 
130 and 131. Sulphuret of lead. Potosi. 

132. Galena, -with calcareous spar. Bryan's mines, Mo. 

133 and 134. Galena, partially desulphurated by heat. Potosi. 

135. Chalcedony. St. Genevieve county. Mo. 

136. Madreporite. Gallatin county, Illinois. 

137. Primitive granular limestone. Carrara, Italy. 

138. Egyptian marble. 

139. Argillaceous porphyry. France. 
140 and 141. Milford marble. 

142 and 143. Philadelphia marble. 

144. Egyptian marble. 

145. Bituminous shale. 

146. Cubical iron-ore. Jefferson county, Mo. 

147. Regulus of nickel and cobalt. 

148. Tourmaline. Greensburgh, Westchester county, N. Y. 

149. Graphic granite. Corlaer's Hook, N. Y. 

150. Fibrous gypsum. Nova Scotia. 

151. Trap. Corlaer's Hook, N. Y. 

152. Tremolite, in carbonate of lime. Somerstown, Westchester county, 

New York. 

153. Asbestos in steatite, on carbonate of lime. New York. 

154. " " " " " 

155. Lamellar pyrites. Sussex county, N. J. 

156. Graphite " " " 

157. Pyrites, in hornblende. " " 

158. Brass yellow pyrites. " " 

159. Jaspery agate. Corlaer's Hook, N. Y. 

160. Pyrites, with specular oxide of iron. Sussex county, N. J. 

161. Sulphate of barytes. Schooley's Mountain, N. J. 

162. " " Washington county, Mo. 

163. Bitter spar. Hoboken, N. J. 

164. Arseniate of cobalt. Chatham, Conn. 

165. Sulphate of lime. Nova Scotia. 

166. Granular quartz. St. Genevieve county. Mo. 



CATALOGUE OF SHELLS. 213 

167. Sulphate of lime. Nova Scotia. 

i68. Common striped jasper. Corker's Hook, N. Y. 

169. Sulphate of lime. Nova Scotia. 

170. Compact limestone. Herculaneum, Mo. 

171. Limestone. St. Louis, Mo. 

172. Fibrous quartz. Schuyler's mines, N. J. 

173. Quartz. Dutchess county, &c., N. Y. 

174. Sulphuret of zinc, in crystallized quartz. Ulster county, N. Y. 

175. Brown haematite. Salisbury, Conn. 

176. Greenstone porphyry. Madison county. Mo. 

177. Galena. Missouri. 



SHELLS. 

1. Murex'^ canaliculatus, with Voluta mercatoria* included. 

2. " " with Yoluta oliva* included. 

3. " " with serpula3 attached and included. 

4. Murex* carica, with two pairs Mya* arenaria. 

5. Helix* ampuUacea, with two small madrepores.* 

6. " " with seven Cyprasa* monita — African money. 

7. Yenus* mercenaria, with four small ones ; a variety of species in- 

cluded. 

8. " " two valves, intermediate between the last named. 

9. Cardium* leucostomum. 

10. Cardium* edule. 

11. Buccinum* perdix, three shells. 

12. Murex* neritoideus, two shells. 

13. Venus* maculata. 

14. Patella* fornicata, six shells. 

15. Buccinum* testiculus, two shells. 

16. Yenus* Paphia, two valves. 

17. Larva* of strombus gigas, six shells. 

18. Buccinumf glabratum (Ebuma of Lamarck). 
19 and 20. Cypraeaf lirabica. 

21. C. sordida,* Linn. C. carneola, Lam. 

22. C. caputf serpentis. Yiper's head; cowry. 

23. C. exanthema.* (False argus.) 

24. Buccinum* patulum. 

25. Yoluta prunum.* 

26. Cyprsea* lota, two shells. 

* Occidental sheila. f Oriental shells. 



214 APPENDIX. 

27. Voluta guttrata.f 

28. Bulla* gibbosa, seven shells. 

29. Ostrea* edulis. 

30. Peetsen.* 

31. Venus* tigerina. 

32. Tellina* radiata. 

33. Dentralium.* 

34. Nerita* mammilla. 

35. Bulla* ampulla. 

36. Voluta oryzy.* (Rice shells.) 

37. Voluta* nivea. 

38. Area* glycymeris. 

39. Cerea* noe. 

40. Mytilus* modiolus. 



* Occidental shells. f Oriental shells. 



MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE WEST. 



A LETTER TO CHARLES G. HAINES, ESQ., SECRETARY OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR 
THE PROMOTION OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS AT NEW YORK. 



New York, October 5th, 1819. 

Sir: In reply to your communication of the 4th inst., I submit the 
Bubjoined remarks on the following questions : — 

I. " To what extent are the lead, and other mines, worked in our west- 
ern country, either by the United States' government, or by individuals ?" 

In the extensive region to which this inquiry has allusion, are found 
numerous ores, salts, ochres, and other minerals ; and the catalogue is 
daily increasing, by the discovery of new substances, which promise to 
become important to the commerce of the western country ; but the only 
mines worked are those of lead, iron, and coal. 

The lead-mines are situated in Missouri Territory, (formerly Upper 
Louisiana,) and extend on the western bank of the Mississippi for a dis- 
tance of about one hundred miles, by forty in width, comprising the 
present counties of Washington, St. Genevieve, Jefferson, and Madison. 
The first lead-ore was discovered by De Lochon, La Motte, and others, 
acting under the authority of the Company of the West, as early as 1720. 
Since which period, the number of mines has been annually increasing 
by new discoveries, under the jurisdiction which has been successively 
exercised over that country by France, Spain, and the United States. 
The number of mines now worked is forty-five ; thirty-nine of which are 
in Washington county, three in St. Genevieve, one in Madison, and two 
in Jefferson. The quantity of lead annually smelted from the crude ore, 
I have estimated at three million pounds ; and the number of hands to 
whom it furnishes employment, at eleven hundred. A considerable pro.- 
portion of these are, however, farmers, who only turn their attention to 
mining a part of the year, when their farms do not require their labor; 

(215) 



216 APPENDIX. 

the residue are professed smelters and miners, including blacksmiths and 
others, whose services are constantly required. The price of lead at the 
mines is now four dollars per cwt. It is worth four dollars and fifty cents 
on the banks of the Mississippi, at St. Genevieve and Herculaneum, and 
is quoted at seven dollars in Philadelphia. The ore exclusively worked 
is the common galena, or sulphuret of lead, with a broad glittering grain. 
It is found in detached pieces and beds in red clay, and in veins in lime- 
stone rock, accompanied by sulphate of barytes, calcareous spar, blende, 
quartz, and pyrites. It melts easily, yielding, in the large way, from 
sixty to seventy-five per cent, of pure metal. By chemical analysis I pro- 
cured eighty-two per cent, of metallic lead from a specimen of common 
ore at Mine t\ Burton. The residue is chiefly sulphur, with a little car- 
bonate of lime and silex. It contains no silver, or at least none which 
can be detected by the usual tests. 

All the lead smelted at these mines is transported in carts and wagons 
to the banks of the Mississippi, and deposited for shipment at Hercula- 
neum or St. Genevieve. The different mines are situated at various dis- 
tances, from thirty to forty-five miles in the interior, and the cost of trans- 
portation may be averaged at seventy-five cents per cwt. In summer, 
when the roads are in good order, it may be procured at fifty cents ; but 
in the spring and fall, when the roads are cut up, it will cost one dollar. 
The transportation from Herculaneum and St. Genevieve to New Orleans, 
may now be procured at seventy cents per cwt. This is less than the 
sum paid, previous to the introduction of steamboats on the Mississippi 
and its tributary streams. Hence, it costs more to convey a hundred- 
weight of lead forty miles by land, in wagons and carts, than to transjyrt 
the same one thousand miles (the distance from Herculaneum to New 
Orleans) by steamboats. An improvement of the streams of the mine 
country, so as to render them navigable at all seasons for keel-boats and 
barges, is therefore a subject of the first moment. The Maramec river, a 
stream of one hundred and eighty miles in length, and a hundred yards 
wide at its mouth, which enters the Mississippi eighteen miles below St. 
Louis, draws its waters from the mining counties of Washington, JeS'er- 
son, St. Genevieve, and the unincorporated wilderness on the south-east, 
and the fertile counties of Franklin, and St. Louis on the north-west; and 
its south-eastern tributaries meander throughout the mine tract. The 
principal of these are Grand river and Mineral Fork, which are navigable 
in spring and fall for keel-boats of a small size, and might, I believe, be 
rendered so throughout the year, at an inconsiderable expense. 

The lead-mines are exclusively worked by individuals, either under the 
authority of leases obtained from the United States for a limited time ; 
on lands which were granted by the French or Spanish, and the titles to 
which have been subsequently confirmed by the United States; on un- 
confirmed lands ; or in violation of existing laws. 



LETTER TO C. G. HAINES. 217 

There are few sections of the valley of the Mississippi which are not 
characterized by iron and coal. Iron-ore is abundant on the Ohio and 
its tributaries, particularly on the Alleghany, Monongahela, and Mus- 
kingum. It is worked at several foundries in the counties of Fayette, 
Armstrong, and Alleghany, in Pennsylvania. The most noted furnaces 
are at Brownsville, from which the extensive foundries at Pittsburgh are 
chiefly supplied with pig-iron. It is also worked at Zanesville, on the 
Muskingum, and on Brush creek, in Ohio ; and a foundry at Cincinnati, 
and another at Louisville, in Kentucky, are supplied with pig-iron from 
the latter place. The oi'e is chiefly of that kind called the argillaceous 
oxide, and produces iron which is well adapted for steam-engine ma- 
chinery, and for hollow-ware. 

Stone-coal, of an excellent quality, is abundant at Pittsburgh, where 
it is largely consumed in iron-foundries, glass-furnaces, and other manu- 
factories, and also in private dwellings. The most extensive pits or gal- 
leries are situated immediately opposite the city, on Coal Hill, where it 
has been pursued into the hill eight or nine hundred yards. It is found 
breaking out on the banks of the Alleghany at several places, at and near 
Kittaning, where beds of it have been opened ; and I have even observed 
traces of it in the vicinity of Olean, near the head of Genesee river, in 
the State of New York. On the Monongahela it extends by Williams- 
port, Brownsville, and Greensburgh, to the vicinity of Morgantown, in 
Virginia; and such is the abundance of this mineral, and the uniformity 
and regularity which the geological structure of this part of the country 
presents, that there is no considerable section of it, within a circle of two 
hundred miles in diameter around Pittsburgh, which does not aiford bods 
of good inflammable coal. Pursuing the Ohio down from Pittsburgh, it 
is successively worked at Wellsburg, Wheeling, Gallipolis, and Maysville. 
In Illinois, on Great Muddy river, and at Alton ; in Missouri, at Floris- 
sant, and on Osage river ; and in Arkansas, on the Washita river ; this 
valuable mineral has also been found. 

II. "What mines have been discovered?" 

V. " Where are the most valuable mines to be found in the western 
country ?" 

The reply to these inquiries has been, in part, anticipated by the pre- 
ceding details. Lead and other mines are, however, found in several 
other sections of the western country. An extensive body of lead-ore is 
found near Prairie du Chien, on the west bank of the Mississippi, about 
five hundred miles above St. Louis. The ore is in the state of a sulphu- 
ret, is easily reduced, and yields about sixty-two and a half per cent, of 
metal. These mines are worked in an imperfect manner by the savages, 
the Sacs and Foxes, the original owners of the soil ; and considerable 
quantities are annually brought down to St. Louis by the north-west 

19 



218 APPENDIX. 

traders. Lead-ore is also found on the river Desmoines of the Mississippi, 
where it was formerly worked by the French — on the Osage, Gasconade, 
and Mine river of the Missouri ; on the White river and its tributaries ; 
on the St. Francis ; and on the Arkansas, where it is combined with a 
small proportion of silver. It is also found at Cave-in-Rock, Gallatin 
county, Illinois, accompanied by fluor spar ; at Drennon's Lick and Mil- 
lersburgh, in Kentucky ; and on New river, at Austinville, in Wythe 
county, Virginia. At the latter place, it has been worked without inter- 
ruption for nearly fifty years ; and the mines still continue to be wrought. 
The ore is galena, accompanied by the carbonate of lead, and the earthy 
oxide of lead ; the latter of which is worked in the large way, as is said, 
to a profit. 

Zinc is found in Washington county, Missouri, in considerable quanti- 
ties ; but only in the state of a sulphuret. 

Copper has been found in small masses, in a metallic state, on Great 
Muddy river, and at Harrisonville, Monroe county, Illinois. A grant of 
land made to P. F. Renault, in 1723, at Old Peoria, on the Illinois river, 
specifies the existence of a copper-mine upon it ; but the most remarkable 
bodies of copper which the globe affords, are stated to exist on the western 
shores of Lake Superior, and on the Upper Mississippi. It is found in 
the metallic state, but accompanied also, as is said, by the sulphuret and 
carbonate of copper. The ores stretch over a very extensive region, and 
have been traced as low as the falls of St. Anthony. There is, indeed, 
reason to believe that copper is disseminated from the west bank of Great 
Muddy river, in Illinois, in a north-west direction, to the western shore 
of lake Superior, as all the streams, so far as observed, which flow either 
north or south at right angles with such a line, afford traces of copper. 
Thus, the Kaskaskia, the Illinois and its tributaries, the St. Peter, Wis- 
consin, and the southern forks of the Wabash and Miami, all furnish 
specimens of copper, as well as lead, zinc, and iron. An attempt was 
made by President Adams to explore the copper-mines of the north-west ; 
but I know not what success attended the undertaking. Considering the 
certainty with which all travellers, since the days of Carver, have spoken 
of the existence of these mines, with the daily concurrent testimony of 
tradirs from that quarter, and their great importance in a national point 
of view, it is matter of surprise that they have been so long neglected. 
Is not the present an auspicious time for authorizing a mission into that 
quarter, for the purpose of exploring its physical geography ? 

Iron is a mineral common to all parts of the western country. One 
of its most remarkable localities is the head of the river St. Francis, in 
Missouri Territory, where it extends through a considerable part of 
Madison and Washington counties. The most noted body is called the 
Iron Mountain, and is situated about forty miles west of the Mississippi, in 
BcUevieu, Washington county. The ore is here found in immense masses. 



LETTER TO C. Q. HAINES. 219 

and forms the southern extremity of a lofty ridge of hills, which consists 
chiefly of red granite, but terminates, in a rich alluvial plain, in a mass 
of solid ore. It is chiefly the micaceous oxide, accompanied by the red 
oxide, and by iron-glance. It melts very easily, producing a soft, 
malleable iron. 

Coal is not less common, and may be considered among those extensive 
mineral formations which stretch, in so remarkable a manner, throughout 
the vast basin included between the Alleghany and Rocky mountains. 
Salt and gypsum may also be referred to the same great geological form- 
ations, as they are to be traced, accompanying each other, from the west- 
ern section of New York, to the southern banks of the Arkansas, where 
immense quantities of salt and gypsum exist. Clay, flint, ochre of various 
kinds, saltpetre, alum, reddle, soapstone, plumbago, oil-stone, marble, 
serpentine, &c., may be enumerated among the useful minerals of less 
importance, which characterize that region. 

III. " To what extent and advantage do you think the mines might be 
worked, under proper management and superintendence ?" 

IV. " Are the laws of Congress, which have been passed in relation to 
our lead-mines, salutary in their operation ?" 

I have stated the amount of lead annually produced by the Missouri 
mines at three millions of poutfds, which, on reflection, I think is suffi- 
ciently high. But there are numerous difficulties opposed to the suc- 
cessful progress of mining in that country, by the removal of which, the 
amount would be greatly augmented. Some of these difficulties arise 
from the peculiar nature of the business, from a want of skill, or of 
mining capital in those by whom mining operations are conducted ; but 
by far the greatest obstacle results from the want of a systematic organi- 
zation of the mining interest by the United States, or from defects in 
existing laws on the subject. 

Immediately after the occupation of Louisiana by the United States, 
inquiry was made into the situation and extent of the mines ; and a law 
was passed, reserving all mines discovered on the public lands, and 
authorizing the territorial executive for the time being to lease out such 
mines for a period of three years. A radical defect in this law appears 
always to have been, that there was not, at the same time, authorized the 
appointment of a specific agent for the general management and super- 
intendence of mines. Such an officer has long been called for, not less 
by the public interest, than by the intelligent inhabitants of the western 
country, who feel how nearly a proper development of its mineral wealth 
is connected with their individual prosperity and national independence. 
The superintendent should reside in the mine country, and such a salary 
should be attached to the office as to induce a man of science to accept it. 
His duty should be to report annually to Congress the state of the mines, 



220 APPENDIX. 

their produce, new discoveries, and proposed alterations in existing laws. 
He should lease out and receive rents for the public mines — prevent the 
destruction of timber on mineral lands, and the working of mines with- 
out authority, and should be charged with the investigation of the physi- 
cal and geographical mineralogy of the country. At present, the most 
flagrant violations of the laws are practised — mines are worked without 
leases — wood is destroyed on lands which are only valuable for the wood 
and the lead-ore they contain ; and the government derives but a small 
revenue from those celebrated mines, which, whether we consider their 
vast extent, the richness of the ore, or the quantity of metal they are 
capable of annually producing, are unparalleled by any other mineral 
district in the world. 

There is another feature in the existing law, which is not beneficial in 
its operation. It is that clause restricting the terms of leases to three 
years. To embark in mining operations with profit, it is necessary to 
sink shafts and galleries, build engines, and erect other necessary works, 
which are, in some degree, permanent in their nature, and require much 
time and expense in their completion. A considerable part of the period 
must, therefore, elapse before the mine can be put in a state for working ; 
and no sooner is that done, and it begins to afford a profit, and promises 
a reward for the expense incurred, than the expiration of the lease throws 
all these works into the hands of some new adventurer, or more successful 
applicant. This prevents many from engaging in mining on the public 
lands, and especially those who would be best able to prosecute the busi- 
ness ; and of the number who take leases, a great proportion continue to 
pursue the desultory method of mining in alluvial* ground, introduced at 
an early period by the French, but which is attended with very great 
uncertainty. 

Improvements remain also to be introduced in regard to the processes 
of mining, the furnaces employed, and the method of raising the ore. 
Inseparable from this subject is the distribution of more enlarged prac- 
tical and scientific views of mining and minerals generally, which might, 
in a great degree, be effected by the dissemination of practical treatises 
on the subject, or by the employment of experienced and skilful miners 
from Europe. 

When such improvements shall be effected, with others to which it is 
not necessary here to advert — when miners are properly secured in the 
object of their pursuit, either by permanent purchases from government, 
or by leases for a long period of years — and when the facilities for trans- 
portation which that country is destined to afford, by the improved navi- 
gation of its streams, and by the introduction of turnpikes, roads, and 

* This word is used in its common acceptation in 1819. 



LETTER TO C. G. HAINES. ' 221 

bridges, are introduced, there is reason to conclude that the annual 
amount of lead produced will far surpass the proceeds of those mines 
under the present arrangement, and, indeed, it is impossible to calculate 
the extent to which it may be carried. It is, perhaps, a moderate esti- 
mate to say, that they are capable of being made to yield, by judicious 
management, six millions of pounds of lead per annum, and that they 
■will furnish employment to three thousand hands. 

During my late tour throughout the western country, including nearly 
a year's residence in the interior of Missouri, I devoted much time to 
this interesting subject, and have been enabled to collect a body of facts 
on the physical resources and character of that country, and particularly 
of its mines and minerals, which it is my design to lay before the public. 
I must, therefore, refer you to this work, which is now in press, for fur- 
ther details on this subject, and, in the mean time, I beg your indulgent 
perusal of this hasty outline. 

With respect. Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

Henby K, Schoolceaft. 



19 



GEOGRAPHY. 



MISSOURI. 

When Louisiana was admitted into the Union as an independent State, 
all that part of the territory situated north of 33° north latitude, and 
formerly known as Upper Louisiana, was erected into a separate territo- 
rial government, under the name of Missouri. This term is the name 
of a tribe of Indians who formerly dwelt near the Missouri river. The 
Territory also included those boundless plains and unexplored countries 
stretching from north to south, at the foot of the Rocky mountains, and 
which pass into the province of Texas on the south, and are bounded by 
the western line of Louisiana on the east. In the month of March of the 
present year, the southern part of Missouri Territory, including the un- 
incorporated regions on the west and south-west, was erected into a 
separate Territory, under the name of Arkansas. The regions to the 
north-west may be considered as an unincorporated wilderness, where the 
authority of the United States, so far as the Indian title has been extin- 
guished, is maintained in detached posts and garrisons, under the imme- 
diate government of military commandants. The bounds of Missouri, as 
designated in the late law respecting that country, are as follows : begin- 
ning on the Mississippi river, in latitude 36° north, and running due west 
on the latitude line to the river St. Francis, thence up that river to 36° 
30^ north latitude, thence west to a point due south of the mouth of the 
river Kanzas, thence north to a point opposite the mouth of the river 
Desmoines, thence east to the Mississippi river, and down the middle of 
that river to the place of beginning. 

It embraces some of the most prominent geographical features of the 
western country, and, from the meeting of such mighty streams on its 
confines, and its relation to all the country situated north and west of it, 
must become the key to all the commerce of those regions, and is destined 
to have a commanding influence on the surrounding States, and on the 
political character and mutations of that country. It is bounded by the 

(222) 



GEOGRAPHY OF MISSOURI. 223 

States of Illinois and Kentucky, from -which it is separated by the 
Mississippi river on the east and north-east, and by the Territory of 
Arkansas on the south. 

The country west of the Mississippi differs, in some respects, from any 
other section of the western country, and affords a variety in its physical 
aspect which is nowhere else to be met with. A great proportion of the 
lands in this Territory are of the richest kind, producing corn, wheat, 
rye, oats, flax, hemp, and tobacco, in great abundance, and in great per- 
fection. The lands bordering on the Missouri river, as far as the Terri- 
tory extends, are rich beyond comparison. They consist of black alluvial 
soil, of unknown depth, and partaking largely of the properties of marl ; 
and the heavy growth of forest trees by which it is covered, indicates the 
strength of the soil. As you recede from the banks of the rivers, the 
land rises, passing, sometimes by almost imperceptible gradations, and 
sometimes very abruptly, into elevated barrens, flinty ridges, and rocky 
cliffs. A portion of the Territory is, therefore, unfit for cultivation, but 
still serves as the matrix of numerous ores, which are distributed abun- 
dantly in the hills and mountains of the interior. There is very little 
land of an intermediate quality. It is either very rich or very poor ; it 
is either bottom-land or cliff, prairie or barren ; it is a deep black marl, 
or a high bluff rock ; and the transition is often so sudden, as to produce 
scenes of the most picturesque beauty. Hence, the traveller in the inte- 
rior is often surprised to behold, at one view, cliffs and prairies, bottoms 
and barrens, naked hills, heavy forests, rocks, streams, and plains, all 
succeeding each other with rapidity, and mingled with the most pleasing 
harmony. I have contemplated such scenes, while standing on some lofty 
bluff in the wilderness of Missouri, with unmixed delight ; while the deer, 
the elk, and the buffalo, were grazing quietly on the plains below. 

Situated between the 30th and 40th degrees of north latitude, the Ter- 
ritory enjoys a climate of remarkable serenity, and temperate warmth. 
That clear blue sky, so much admired by the aborigines, is characteristic 
of the country ; and an atmosphere of unusual dryness, exempts the 
inhabitants from those pulmonary complaints which are more or less the 
consequence of a humid atmosphere. A country so situated cannot fail 
to prove genial to the vegetable kingdom. It would be difficult to point 
out a section of country which affords a more interesting field for the 
botanist. Its prairies and barrens are covered with a profusion of wild 
flowers, shrubs, and plants ; and its cultivated fields yield to the hands 
of the planter, a great proportion of the useful vegetables of the earth. 
Corn succeeds remarkably ; no country surpasses the banks of the Mis- 
souri for the vigor of its crops. Wheat, rye, oats, flax, and hemp, are 
also raised with advantage. Tobacco is an article recently introduced, 
but is found to succeed well, and the lands are said to be well adapted to 
its growth. Cotton is raised in the southern part of the Territory for 



224 APPENDIX. 

family use, but is not an advantageous crop for market. The climate and 
soil are also adapted to the growth of the sweet or Carolina potato, and 
to fruit-trees of various kinds. The peach and the apple are most gene- 
rally cultivated. Of wild fruits, the woods afford abundance ; among 
which, the grape, persimmon, papaw, pecan, and filbert, are conspicuous.' 
Some varieties of the grape are delicious, and they are very common at 
the mines, where the inhabitants prepare a wine from them, which has 
a pleasant flavor. 

The population of the Territory, exclusive of the aborigines, has been 
stated at 46,000, the greatest proportion of whom have emigrated into it 
Avithin the last five years. They consist of people from various parts of 
the United States and Europe. A large number are from Tennessee, 
Kentucky, New York, and New England. The original inhabitants were 
French and Spanish. There are few of the latter remaining ; but the 
former constitute a respectable proportion of the population. 

The principal towns of Missouri are St. Louis, St. Genevieve, St. 
Charles, and Franklin. Of a lesser size, are Herculaneum, Potosi, New 
Madrid, Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Chariton, Florissant, and Carondelet. 
St. Louis is the capital of the Territory, and by far the largest town west 
of Cincinnati, Ohio. It consists of about 550 houses and 5000 inhabit- 
ants, and has two banks, three houses for public worship, a post-office, 
theatre, land-office, and museum, including forty stores, with several mills, 
manufactories, &c. It is eligibly situated on the western bank of the 
Mississippi river, eighteen miles below the junction of the Missouri, 
and, from its commanding situation, is destined to become the emporium 
of the western country. 

Franklin, at Boon's Lick, on the Missouri, has 150 houses, is the 
thoroughfare for emigrants to that quarter, and is surrounded by one of 
the richest bodies of land west of the Alleghany mountains, to which 
emigration is flowing with unexampled rapidity. 

St. Charles, situated twenty-one miles above St. Louis, on the Missouri, 
is also a handsome and flourishing town. The same may be said of Cha- 
riton, one hundred and eighty miles above, at the mouth of Chariton 
river. 

No country in the world affords such an extent of inland navigation 
by its streams, as the basin Ij'ing between the Alleghany and Rocky 
mountains, whose congregated waters are carried to the ocean by those 
stupendous natural canals, the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Illinois. 
The Mississippi river itself, in whose current all these majestic streams 
unite, and are discharged into the Mexican gulf, washes the eastern 
boundaries of the Territory, from the mouth of the river Desmoines to 
that of the St. Francis, a distance of more than five hundred miles. The 
Missouri, swelled by its great tributaries, the Yellowstone, Little Mis- 
souri, Whitestone, La Platte, Kanzas, and Osage, passes diagonally 



GEOGRAPHY OF MISSOURI. 225 

nearly through its centre, affording on both sides a widely-extended tract 
of soil transcendently rich, and bearing a luxuriant growth of forest trees 
and plants, interspersed with prairie. It is navigable, without interrup- 
tion, from its junction with the Mississippi to its falls, a distance of two 
thousand miles. 

The Ohio is a thousand miles in length from its head, at Pittsburgh, to 
its junction with the Mississippi, and, in its passage, successively washes 
the shores of Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illi- 
nois — shores which are covered with villages, towns, and settlements, and 
lined with an industrious and hardy population. 

The Illinois is also a stream affording a great length of navigation, and 
lands of superior quality, and has a natural connection with the great 
north-western lakes, into which boats may, at certain seasons, uninter- 
ruptedly pass. 

These rivers, communicating with all parts of the country by their 
tributaries, afford the advantages of commercial exchange, trade, and 
manufactures, to a greater extent, and a richer description of country, 
than is anywhere to be found in Europe, Asia, or Africa. 

Of these advantages, the Territory of Missouri, occupying so command- 
ing a position in the geography of the country, must always partake 
largely, and may, from the wealth already concentrated in its capital, 
St. Louis, enjoy almost exclusively the trade of the Missouri and upper 
Mississippi. 

The streams which originate within the lines described by the political 
boundaries of the Territory, and which, either during their whole course, 
or for a considerable distance, meander through it, are the Osage, the 
Gasconade, Maramec, Salt river, St. Francis, and Black river. Of a lesser 
magnitude are Mine river, Chariton, Currents, Fourche k Thomas, Eleven- 
points, and Spring rivers ; the four latter running southerly into the 
Arkansas Territory, and discharging their waters into Black river, which 
is itself a tributary of White river. 

The Osage originates in a prairie country, near the ninety-sixth degree 
of west longitude, about one hundred miles north of the Arkansas, and, 
after meandering in an east and north-east direction for a distance of five 
hundred miles, unites with the Missouri one hundred and thirty miles 
above St. Louis. In its course it is swelled by several tributaries, the 
principal of which is the Little Osage, its great south-eastern fork. This 
river affords, in its whole length, large bodies of the choicest prairie- 
land, interspersed with woodland, and occasionally with hills, and is 
navigable for moderate sized boats. Its banks afford exhaustless beds 
of stone-coal, and some iron and lead is found, while its upper forks 
reach into the country of the Pawnees — a country rich in salt. The 
Osage Indians inhabit its banks; but a part of their lands have been 
purchased by the United States. It is a very beautiful stream, and 

P 



226 APPENDIX. 

situated in a delightful climate ; and when its borders are opened for 
emigration, and its resources properly drawn forth, will support a large 
population, and a profitable trade. Its fertile soil and genial climate 
entitle it to the rank of one of the first tributaries of the Missouri. 

In estimating the length of western rivers, there is one circumstance 
which is not properly estimated by an eastern reader. It is their serpen- 
tine course, which is so remarkable, that, in running one hundred miles 
on a geographical line, they will, by their great windings, measure at 
least double that distance ; so that a river stated to be one thousand miles 
in length by its banks, cannot be calculated to traverse a country of more 
than five hundred miles in extent ; indeed, I believe that a fair average 
of distances would show the geographical distance to be less. 

The Gasconade enters the Missouri one hundred miles above St. Louis. 
Its length is about two hundred miles, and it is navigable for half that 
distance. It is made up of several streams running from a ridge of high 
lands, separating the waters which fall on the north into the Missouri, 
from those which flow on the south into the Mississippi. Its banks afford 
but a small proportion of tillable lands, being bordered with rocks and 
sterile hills. The rocks are, however, cavernous, and afford saltpetre ; 
and the hills are covered by pinetimber, which is sawed into boards and 
plank. In these, two articles, the commerce of this river will always 
principally consist. The current is rapid, and affords by its fall many 
mill-seats, so that boats and rafts may descend with ease ; but its ascent 
is attended with great labor. On this stream are already situated several 
saw-mills. 

The Maramec also originates in high lands, two hundred and fifty 
miles south-west of its mouth, and is separated from the waters of the 
Gasconade only by a dividing ridge of land. It is swelled in its course 
by a great number of streams, the most noted of which are the Little 
Maramec, Bourbuse, Fourche h Courtois, Big river, and Mineral Fork. 
It forms a junction with the Mississippi eighteen miles below St. Louis, 
where it is two hundred yards wide. It is only navigable about fifty 
miles, except in high floods in the spring and fall, when most of its tribu- 
taries may be ascended with boats. This stream waters' the country of 
the mines, and interlocks, by its affluents, with the Gasconade on the 
west, and the St. Francis on the south. The mines of Missouri are 
situated on its southern shores. 

Salt river enters the Mississippi one hundred and three miles above St. 
Louis, and seventy-three miles above the mouth of the Illinois. The 
settlements on its banks are rapidly progressing, and the lands are noted 
for their fertility. 

The St. Francis originates, with Big river, in broken lands in the 
southern part of Washington and St. Genevieve counties, and joins the 
Mississippi five hundred miles below. The most noted bodies of iron-ore 



GEOGRAPHY OF MISSOURI. 227 

in the western country lie on its head, at Bellevieu. The La Motte 
lead-mines also lie along the banks of one of its tributaries. It affords, 
in its course, a proportion of excellent land, mixed with some that is 
rocky, and bordered near its mouth with much that is swampy, low, and 
overflown. A raft of trees, about two hundred and fifty miles above its 
month, obstructs the navigation, which would otherwise be good to within 
fourteen miles of St. Michael, the seat of justice for Madison county. 

Black river has its origin near the heads of the Gasconade and the 
Maramec, and is swelled in its course by the river Currents, Fourche k 
Thomas, Eleven-points, Spring and Strawberry rivers, and forms a junc- 
tion with White river about forty miles below Poke Bayou, where the 
road to Arkansas and Red river crosses it. The banks of Black river, 
and of all its tributaries, afford rich alluvial land of more or less extent ; 
but the intervening ridges are rocky and sterile. 

Although there is much high land in this Territory, there is perhaps 
none which, strictly speaking, is entitled to the appellation of a mountain. 
A ridge of high land, called the Ozark chain, commencing on the banks 
of the Maramec, near the Fourche k Courtois, extends in a south-west 
direction to the banks of White river, in Arkansas Territory, a distance 
of about four hundred miles, and occasionally rises into peaks of moun- 
tain height. This ridge serves to divide the waters of the Missouri from 
those of the Mississippi ; the streams on one side running south into the 
latter, and those on the other running north into the former. The body 
of red granite found on the head of the St. Francis, lies in mountain 
masses, and forms, in connection with the accompanying rocks, some of 
the most rude and terrific scenery, full of interest in a mineralogical, as 
well as a geological point of view. 

In the preceding view of the lead-mines of Missouri, and in the cata- 
logue of minerals subsequently introduced, I have already anticipated 
much that might with propriety be given here ; it may therefore be suffi- 
cient to give a brief synopsis of both. 

The lead-mines in this Territory are situated about forty miles west of 
the Mississippi, and sixty miles south-west of St. Louis. They occupy a 
district of country between the waters of the St. Francis and the Mara- 
mec, one hundred miles in length, by about forty in breadth. The first 
lead-ore was discovered by Philip Francis Renault and M. La Motte, 
acting under the authority of the Company of the West, about the year 
1720 ; since which period, the number of mines has been greatly aug- 
mented by new discoveries. The quantity of lead annually smelted from 
the crude ore, I have estimated at three millions of pounds ; and the 
number of hands to whom it furnishes employment, at eleven hundred. 

Iron-ore is found in very large bodies in Bellevieu, Washington county 
— on Fourche k Courtois, where it is accompanied by manganese — on Big 
river — on Flatten and Joachim creeks — and on the waters of the St. 



228 APPENDIX. 

Francis and Black rivers. Stone-coal exists in large bodies at Florissant, 
and in various places on the Osage river. 

On the banks of the Maramec and the Gasconade are found numerous 
caves, -which yield an earth impregnated largely with nitre, procured 
from it by lixiviation. On the head of Currents river are also found 
several caves, from which nitre is procured ; the principal of which is 
Ashley's cave, on Cave creek, about eighty miles south-west of Potosi. 
This is one of those stupendous and extensive caverns which cannot be 
viewed without exciting our wonder and astonishment, which is increased 
hy beholding the entire works for the manufacture of nitre, situated in 
its interior. The native nitrate of potash is found in beautiful white 
crystals, investing the fissures of the limestone rock, which forms the 
walls of this cave ; and several others in its vicinity exhibit the same 
phenomenon. 

Of the number of inhabitants now resident in the Territory, I have 
estimated eleven hundred to be engaged in mining ; but the number was 
much greater at a former period, one thousand men having been em- 
ployed at Mine k Burton alone. The residue of the population are farm- 
ers, mechanics, and manufacturers, including professional men. There 
is also another class of society, which I shall notice under the name of 
hunters. The farming class is by far the largest, as the fertility of the 
soil, and the advantage of procuring lands on easy terms, and in a mild 
climate, afford the strongest and surest prospects of gain to the emigrant. 
There are probably fewer mechanics than are required by the existing 
population. The wages of mechanics of all kinds are very high. A car- 
penter or bricklayer cannot be hired for less than two dollars per day, 
and often receives more. Other mechanics are also in demand, particu- 
larly in the new settlements : and these are increasing with such rapidity, 
as to invite the emigration of skilful and industrious artisans from all 
parts, with the sure prospect of success. 

The manufactures of the Territory, in addition to its grand staple, 
lead, consist in the distillation of whiskey from rye and corn, in the flour- 
ing of wheat, the fabrication of coarse cotton goods, and tow cloth in 
private families, and of patent shot. Some white lead has been made at 
St. Louis. A clothier's and fuller's works have been recently established 
on Big river ; and a number of tan-yards, where raw hides are manufac- 
tured into leather, are in successful operation in various sections of the 
country. 

Made up of emigrants from all other parts of the United States, and 
from Europe, the inhabitants can hardly be said to have acquired an 
uniform character. Hospitality to strangers, enterprise in business, 
ardor in the pursuit of wealth, an elevated pride of country, and perse- 
verance under the pressure of many difficulties growing out of the infancy 
of the settlements, are the most conspicuous traits in the character of the 
inhabitants west of the Mississippi. They are robust, frank, and daring. 



GEOGRAPHY OF MISSOURI. 229 

Taught, by the hardships and dangers incident to a frontier settlement, 
to depend for security and success upon their own individual exertions, 
they rely little upon extraneous help, and feel that true independence, 
flowing from a conviction that their own physical exertions are equal to 
every call, necessity, and emergency of life. Observations drawn from 
habitual intercourse, and from witnessing their public debates, would 
also lead us to conclude, that their enjoyments arise more from those 
active scenes attendant upon adventures which require corporeal exer- 
tion, than from the arts of peace, refinement, and intellectual research. 

Duelling is unfortunately prevalent in Missouri ; and the practice, 
while it continues to receive the sanction of men occupying the first rank 
in society, cannot be expected to fall into disrepute, but must, on the con- 
trary, continue to exert its influence over other classes of the community, 
and to involve, in some measure, in its consequences, those who from 
principle are opposed to it. 

Those scenes of riot and atrocity, however, which have been imputed 
to the inhabitants of the mines by former travellers, do not now exist ; 
the most beneficial changes having been efi"ected in the state of society in 
that country. Emigration has added to the former population an acces- 
sion of talents and intelligence, which has served to mark the society at 
the mines with much of the hospitality, decorum, and refinements of 
older settlements. 

The first inhabitants of this part of ancient Louisiana were French 
and Spanish ; the former of whom still constitute a considerable propor- 
tion of the population, but of the latter there are very few remainino-. 
The French language is therefore spoken, in many settlements, almost 
exclusively ; and many of the Americans have found it advantageous to 
acquire a knowledge of that tongue. 

The hunter class of the population is composed of persons from various 
sections of the Union, who have either embraced hunting from the love 
of ease or singularity, or have fled from society to escape the severity of 
the laws, and to indulge in unrestrained passion. Learning and relio-ion 
are alike disregarded, and in the existing state of society among the Mis- 
souri hunters, we are presented with a contradiction of the theories of 
philosophers of all ages ; for we here behold the descendants of enlio-ht- 
ened Europeans in a savage state, or at least in a rapid state of advance 
towards it. These hunters are chiefly located on the "White, Arkansas, 
and Red rivers. Their numbers may be computed at a thousand or 
fifteen hundred. The late division of the Territory will throw nearly all 
of them into Arkansas. 

The principal tribe of Indians in this Territory are the Osages, a pow- 
erful nation residing on the Osage river. They are remarkable for their 
tall stature, and their fine proportions. It is very rare to see any of them 
under six feet. They inhabit a delightful country, and are in ajnity with 
the United States. Their chiefs are hereditary, and in war they fight on 

20 



230 APPENDIX. 

horseback. Their •warriors are called braves, to -which honor no one can 
arrive -without having previously plundered or stolen from the enemy. 
Hence, plundering and stealing are acts of the greatest merit, and de- 
mand rewards proportionate to the adroitness or extent of the act. They 
are also in the habit of plundering white hunters and travellers, but are 
never known to commit murders on such occasions. 

A part of the ancient and once powerful tribes of Sha-wnees and Dela- 
wares, also inhabit this Territory. They are located on the banks of 
Apple creek and Fourche h Courtois. 

Many of the plantations and mines are worked by slaves, and among 
them are to be found blacksmiths and carpenters, whose services are 
extremely valuable to their masters. The introduction of slavery into 
this section of the vrestern country, appears to have taken place at an 
early day, and it has led to a state of society -which is calculated to 
require their continued assistance. 



HOT SPKINGS OF WASHITA. 

The attention of the traveller in the interior of Missouri and Arkansas, 
is frequently arrested by the novelty of the scenery, and the wild and 
singularly fanciful aspect of the country ; he is often induced to stop, to 
survey some cavern, water-fall, high, loose-hanging cliff, or other natural 
phenomenon. It is in this light that those natural curiosities, the Hot 
Springs of Washita, will be found to reward attention. 

These springs, which have been known for many years, are situated on 
a stream called Hot Spring creek, which falls into the Washita river 
eight miles below. They lie fifty miles south of the Arkansas river, and 
six miles west of the road from Cadron to Mount Prairie, on Red river. 

The approach to the Springs lies up the valley of the creek, which is 
partly made up of its waters. On leaving the banks of the Washita, the 
face of the country almost imperceptibly changes from a rich soil, covered 
with a luxuriant growth of trees, to a sterile mineral tract. On the right 
hand rises the Hot Mountain, with the springs issuing at its foot ; on the 
left, the Cold Mountain, which is little more than a confused and mighty 
pile of stones; and the view in front is terminated by a high point of 
land, which makes down gradually into the valley, and separates the 
creek into two forks, of nearly equal size. 

The Hot Mountain is about three hundred feet high, rising quite steep, 
presenting occasionally ledges of rocks, and terminating at top in a con- 
fused mass of broken rocks, with here and there a pine or oak tree. Its 
sides, notwithstanding their sterility and the steepness of the ascent, are 
covered by a most luxuriant growth of vines, particularly muscadine, the 
fruit of which is delicious. 

The Cold Mountain is separated from the Hot by a valley of about fifty 
yards wide, through which the creek flows ; it is nearly as steep as the 
other, about of an equal height, and terminates in the same confused 
manner. Some pine trees are found on it, but its sides are destitute of 
vegetation. 

The springs issue near the foot of the Hot Mountain, at an elevation 
of about ten feet above the level of the creek. They are very numerous 
all along the hill-side, and the water, which runs in copious streams, is 
quite hot. It will scald the hand, and boil an egg hard in ten minutes. 
Its temperature is considered that of boiling water; but Dr. Andrews, 
of Red river, tells me that it cannot be reckoned over 200° of Fahrenheit. 

(231) 



232 APPENDIX. 

There is a solitary spring, situated seventy feet higher than the others, 
on the side of the mountain ; but it is also of an equal temperature, and 
differs in no respect from those below. Evaporation produces a dense 
fog, •which hangs over the springs, and upon the side of the hill, looking 
at a distance like a number of furnaces in blast. It is probably the con-l 
densation of this fog by the cold air at night, which produces such a 
rank growth of vines on the side of the mountain, where, otherwise, there 
would hardly exist a sign of vegetable life. 

An idea of the beneficial effects of this water is generally prevalent 
throughout the Territory, and numbers annually resort to the springs. 
They are found serviceable in rheumatisms, paralysis, pains in the breast, 
and all chronic and nervous complaints. The method of using the water 
is various. Bathing and sweating are generally resorted to. It is also 
drunk as hot as can be borne, and is not, like ordinary warm water, pro- 
ductive of nausea in the stomach. Of the chemical or medicinal proper- 
ties of the water, little is known, as no accurate analysis has been made. 
The water appears clear, pure, and beautiful; it deposits a sediment, 
which is sometimes red, and in other places green or yellow. Some of 
the springs have a petrifying quality. The warmth of the water, acting 
along the courses of the streams, has a stimulating effect on the 
vegetation. 

There is abundance of a beautiful green moss growing in the springs, 
near their edges ; and their devious courses to the creek below are only 
indicated by a more vigorous growth of grass and moss all along the bor- 
ders, and a brighter green. 

The mineralogical character of the country around the springs is 
highly interesting. Three miles above is a quarry of oil-stone, of a pecu- 
liar and valuable kind. It has a very compact texture, is heavy, trans- 
lucent, and gives a fine edge to a razor. The rock formations here are 
limestone, slate, and quartz. Veins of white quartz, four or five feet in 
width, are found running through the slate rock. Fine crystals of limpid 
quartz are also abundant in the neighborhood. At the cove on Washita 
river, fifteen miles below the springs, there is a body of magnetic iron- 
ore ; sulphates of copper and zinc, and sulphuret of iron, in cubical crys- 
tals, occur in the same locality. 

These springs, geologically, exist in a primitive formation, which may 
be considered the southern termination of the Ozark chain. Ancient 
volcanic forces have raised the beds of slate, sienite, and greenstone, of 
the chain, to their present elevations. The waters owe their heat to these 
long-extinguished, but deep-slumbering fires, which may hereafter break 
out into new activity. 



UNICA, OR WHITE RIVER. 

In order duly to estimate the magnitude, position, character, and 
importance of any of our great western rivers, it is necessary to consider 
the relation they bear to each other, and to the surrounding country. A 
mere topographical description of an isolated section of country — a 
mountain, a stream, or a mine — may possess its value; but without a 
survey, however cursory, of the contiguous regions, it must lose much of 
its interest to the general reader, and much of its utility to the geogra- 
phical student. It will be necessary, therefore, to cast a glance at the 
extensive country in which this river lies, before its individual consider- 
ation can be profitably commenced. 

In looking on the map of ancient Louisiana, the most striking physical 
trait presented is the Rocky mountains, extending from Mexico into the 
unexplored regions north and west of lake Superior, with the del Norte, 
Red river, Arkansas, Kanzas, La Platte, and Yellowstone, all issuing 
from its sides near the same point, and uniting (with the exception of the 
former) at different points in the vast basin below, with the Missouri, the 
Ohio, and the Mississippi, in whose congregated floods they roll on to the 
Mexican gulf. Other streams traverse the country ; but these are the 
principal rivers of Louisiana, whose heads rest on the Rocky mountains. 
Immediately at the foot of these mountains commence the almost inter- 
minable plains of sand, or Kanzian desert, stretching from north to south 
for more than a thousand miles, and with an average breadth of six hun- 
dred. To this succeed the highlands and mountains of the present Terri- 
tories of Missouri and Arkansas, which preserve a pretty exact parallel- 
ism, from north to south, with the Rocky mountain chain, and give rise 
to several rivers of secondary magnitude. This again is bounded by the 
alluvial tract of the Mississippi, being the third grand parallel division 
presented by the surface of the soil. Through these, the Red river and 
the Arkansas hold their unaltered course, and reach the Mississippi with- 
out a fall ; while the Kanzas, the La Platte, and the Yellowstone, bending 
northward, reach the Missouri, without meeting any mountains to oppose 
their progress. The rivers of secondary magnitude, whose origin is east 
of the highlands bordering the western desert, are the Teche, Vermillion, 
Tensaw, Washita, Little Missouri, Courtableau, Boeuf, Little Red, Grand, 
White, Black, Osage, Maramec, Gasconade, and St. Francis rivers. Of 
these, White river, a stream hitherto almost wholly unknown, or only 
20 * (233) 



234 APPENDIX. 

known to hunters, and which has not received its deserved rank on any 
existing map, is one of the most considerable. It was therefore with 
surprise that I found, on travelling into those remote regions, so consi- 
derable a stream unnoticed by geographers, or only noticed to attest their 
■want of information respecting its size, length, tributaries, character, 
productions, and importance. I therefore concluded that a summary of 
these particulars, as observed by myself during a tour into that quarter, 
would be an acceptable piece of service, and, with this view, began these 
observations. 

White river originates near the ninety-seventh degree of west longi- 
tude, and about the thirty-sixth of north latitude, and, after running in 
a very serpentine course for thirteen hundred miles, enters the Missis- 
sippi fifty miles above the mouth of the Arkansas, and seven hundred 
above New Orleans. Its waters, unlike most of the western rivers, are 
beautifully clear and transparent, being wholly made up of springs that 
gush from the diluvial hills which are found, for more than half its 
length, within a few miles of, and often immediately upon, its banks. So 
much of the country through which it runs, is, therefore, sterile and 
rough ; but the immediate margin of the river uniformly presents a strip 
of the richest alluvial bottom-land, from a quarter of a mile to a mile and 
a half in width. On this, corn, wheat, rye, oats, flax, hemp, and potatoes, 
have a vigorous growth ; the mildness of the climate, and the fertility of 
the soil, combining to render it one of the most favorable of all countries 
for the pursuits of agriculture. Cotton also succeeds on the banks of this 
river as high up as settlements have extended, and will hereafter be an 
important item among its agricultural productions. The district of tilla- 
ble land on this river, like many others west of the Mississippi, is chiefly 
confined to its banks. Bordering this, is found a chain of hills on either 
side, which sometimes close in upon the river's banks in perpendicular 
cliflfs ; and the adjacent country may in general be considered as sterile. 
To this remark, all its tributaries are exceptions ; for they invariably 
afford, however small, tracts of the most fertile land, covered with a heavy 
growth of forest trees and underbrush. The cane is also common to this 
stream in its whole course, and affords a nutritious food for cows, horses, 
and hogs, who are fond of it, and fatten upon it. This plant being an 
evergreen, cattle and horses may feed upon it all winter ; and it is accord- 
ingly given to them, as a substitute for hay, by the Indians and hunters. 

The only inhabitants on the upper part of White river, so far as inha- 
Ijitants have penetrated, are hunters, who live in camps and log cabins, 
and support themselves by hunting the bear, deer, buffalo, elk, beaver, 
raccoon, and other animals, which are found in great plenty in that 
region. They also raise corn for bread, and for feeding their horses. 
They seldom, however, cultivate more than an acre or two, subsisting 
chiefly on animal food and wild honey, and pay no attention to the culti- 
vation of garden vegetables, if I except some cabbages, noticed at a few 



WHITE RIVER. 235 

habitations. When the season of hunting arrives, the ordinary labors 
of a man about the house and cornfield devolve upon the women, whose 
condition in such a state of society may readily be imagined. The inha- 
bitants, in fact, pursue a similar course of life with the savages, having 
embraced their love of ease, and their contempt for agricultural pursuits, 
with their sagacity in the chase, their mode of dressing in skins, their 
manners, and their hospitality to strangers. 

The furs and peltries which are collected during repeated excursions 
in the woods, are taken down the river at certain seasons in canoes, and 
disposed of to traders, who visit the lower parts of this river for that 
purpose. Here they receive, in exchange for their furs, woollen cloths, 
rifles, knives, hatchets, salt, powder, lead, iron for horse-shoes, blankets, 
iron pots, shoes, and other articles of primary importance in their way 
of life. Those living near the cultivated parts of Lawrence county, in 
Arkansas Territory, also bring down, in exchange for such articles, 
buffalo beef, pork, bears' meat, beeswax, and honey, which are again sold 
by the traders along the banks of the Mississippi, or at New Orleans. 
Very little money is paid, and that in hard cash only ; no bank-bills of 
any kind being taken in that quarter. I happened to be present, on my 
return from the head-waters of White river, at one of these exchanges, 
where a further opportunity was offered of observing the manners and 
character of these people. Bears' meat was sold at $10 per cwt. ; buffalo 
beef at $4 ; cows' beef at $3 ; pork, in the hog, at $3 50 ; venison hams 
at 25 cents each ; wild turkeys, the same ; wild honey at $1 per gallon ; 
beaver fur, $2 per lb. ; bearskins, $1 50 each ; otter skins, $2 ; raccoon 
skins, 25 cents ; deerskins, 25 cents per lb. These prices were considered 
high by the purchaser ; but they were only nominally so, as he paid them 
off in articles at the most exorbitant rates. Common three-point or 
Mackinaw blankets were sold at $8 each ; butcher-knives at $2 ; rifle- 
locks at $8 ; common coarse blue cloth at $6 per yard ; coffee at 75 cents 
per lb. ; salt at $5 per bushel ; lead at 25 cents per lb. ; gunpowder at $2 
per lb. ; axes at $6 each ; horseshoe-nails at $3 per set, &c. The trade 
of this river is consequently attended with profits which amply repay the 
risks and fatigues incident to a voyage in that quarter. Vast quantities 
of furs and skins are annually brought down this river, with some bees- 
wax, honey, beef, bacon, &c. ; and whenever the hunter population yields 
to the farming and mechanical class, the list of its productions will be 
swelled by corn, rye, wheat, oats, flax, hemp, and cotton ; a suiSciency 
of each of which has already been raised, to show that the climate and 
soil are well adapted to their culture. Its mineral products are also 
worthy of attention. Iron-ore, lead, zinc, and manganese, have already 
been discovered ; and among its earthy minerals may be enumerated 
marble, agate, jasper, hornstone, and rock crystal ; specimens of which, 
with some others, I picked up during my journey there. Caves with 
nitre are also common ; and large forests of pine timber, which will be 



236 APPENDIX. 

wanted in the progressing settlements on theJMississippi, are situated on 
its northern tributaries, and may be floated down at an inconsiderable 
expense. 

White river runs through a section of country which, according to a 
recent political division, belongs chiefly to the Territory of Arkansas ; 
but several of its tributaries originate in Missouri, the chief of which are 
James river. Great North Fork, or Pine river, and Black river, with its 
auxiliaries — Currents, Fourche k Thomas, Spring, Eleven-points, and 
Strawberry rivers. 

About a hundred and fifty miles below the Pawnee mountains, the 
main south fork of White river is joined by the War Eagle and Osage 
forks ; a region remarkable for the abundance of beaver found in its 
streams. In the course of the succeeding two hundred miles, it is joined 
by King's river and Tower creek on the south, and by Roaring fork and 
James river on the north ; the latter being by far the largest stream it 
has thus far received, and contributing nearly as much water as all the 
others put together. From the mouth of James river to its junction with 
the Mississippi, it is successively joined by Long, Bull, Swan, Beaver, 
and Big creeks, by the Little and Great North Forks, Black and Cash 
rivers, on the north ; and on the south by Bear and Crooked creeks, 
BufiFalo Fork, and Little Red river ; and it is finally connected with the 
Arkansas river by a natural canal called the cut-off', about thirty miles 
above its junction with the Mississippi, which afi'ords a navigable water 
communication at all seasons. Many of the above tributaries are streams 
of no ordinary magnitude, and afford boat navigation for many hundred 
miles ; they are all characterized by tracts of rich alluvial lands on their 
banks. James river, Buffalo Fork, Great North Fork, Black river, and 
Little Red river, merit individual attention, 

James river originates in the Ozarks, a few miles south of the Gascon- 
ade, in Missouri Territory, and, after running in a south-west direction 
for two hundred miles, in the course of which it is swelled by Findley's 
river, and by other streams, forms a junction with AVhite river a thousand 
miles above the mouth of the latter. Its waters are as pure as crystal ; it 
lies under a climate the most mild, salubrious, and delightful ; and on its 
banks are situated a body of the most fertile and beautiful lands which 
the whole valley of the Mississippi affords. The timber on its banks is 
abundant; a remark which cannot with justice be made of many parts 
af the adjacent country, and nothing can exceed the vigor and the ver- 
dure of vegetable nature on the borders of this beautiful stream. Prairies 
are also found within a mile of its western banks, and extend towards 
the Grand Osage, as far as the eye can reach, level as a graduated plain, 
and waving with tall grass, on which the elk, the buffalo, and the deer, 
feed in countless numbers. 

Findley river forms a junction with this stream, near the centre of this 
choice body of land, and about one hundred miles above its mouth. 



WHITE RIVER. 237 

Twenty miles above the junction of these streams, on the immediate 
banks of James river, are situated some valuable lead-mines, which have 
been known to the Osage Indians, and to a few White river hunters, for 
many years. The Indians have been in the habit of procuring lead for 
bullets at that place, by smelting the ore in a kind of furnace, made by 
digging a pit in the ground, and casing it with some flat stones, placed 
so as to resemble the roof of a house inverted ; such is the richness of the 
ore, and the ease with which it smelts. The ore has not, however, been 
properly explored, and it is impossible to say how extensive the beds or 
veins may prove. Some zinc, in the state of a sulphuret, is found accom- 
panying it. There is not one inhabitant on all this stream ; my own 
cabin, erected for a temporary purpose at the mines in January last, 
being the only human habitation within two hundred miles of that place. 

Buffalo Fork originates near the north banks of the Arkansas, and, 
after traversing a rocky country for about one hundred and eighty miles 
in a north-east course, joins White river at the Buffalo Shoals, about 
seven hundred miles above the Mississippi. It is a fine region for game, 
and affords some good lands. 

The Great North Fork, or Pine river, is a stream of two hundred miles 
in length, and a hundred yards wide at its mouth. Its waters are clear, 
being entirely made up of springs, which are numerous all along its 
banks ; but the navigation is interrupted by rapids. It originates with 
James river and the Gasconade, in a ridge of high land, which throws a 
part of its waters into the Missouri, and a part into the Mississippi, the 
streams running in opposite directions. In travelling into that country, 
I accidentally arrived at the extreme head of this river, where it consists 
only of some drizzling springs, and pursued it doAvn, in all its windings, 
to its junction with White river, about twelve miles below the mouth of 
Buffalo Fork. It is bordered on both sides by limestone bluffs, covered 
generally with tall pines, and affording some detached strips of valuable 
land. On the whole, however, it must be considered a sterile region, 
■which will never admit of a dense population. The bottoms are overrun 
by cane and brier, which render travelling extremely fatiguing. 

This stream appears generally to have been considered by geographers 
as the head of White river, which is accordingly, on most maps, made to 
originate at this place. The error has been, in some degree, corrected in 
Robinson's new map of Louisiana, lately published at Natchez, which 
may be esteemed the best map extant respecting that section of country. 
He calls it Pine river. 

Black river is a large, deep, and gentle stream, composed of numerous 
auxiliaries, which draw their waters from the counties of Wayne, New 
Madrid, and Lawrence; the two former lying in Missouri Territory, and 
the latter in Arkansas. It is navigable with boats of the largest burden, 
at all seasons of the year, for more than one hundred miles. Little 
Black, Currents, Fourche h Thomas, Eleven-points, Spring, and Straw- 



r 



238 APPENDIX. 

berry rivers, are all streams of considerable size, coming in on the west, 
and deserve particular notice on the future maps of that country. Their 
banks afford choice bodies of fertile lands, which are already the seat of 
many plantations and farms, where corn, rye, wheat, oats, flax, hemp, 
and cotton, are raised in the greatest perfection, and the settlements are 
rapidly increasing. Considerable quantities of beef and pork are also 
put up for the New Orleans market, every facility being afforded by the 
luxuriance of grass in the woods, and the abundance of acorns in the 
fall, for raising and fattening hogs and cattle. Lawrence county is gene- 
rally considered among the first farming districts west of the Mississippi. 
Davidsonville, the seat of justice for this county, is situated on the west 
bank of Black river, at the junction of Spring river. The settlements on 
Strawberry river, on the Currents, Fourche ^ Thomas, Poke Bayou, and 
other places, are in a flourishing condition. 

Little Red river issues near the sources of Buffalo Fork, and runs 
parallel with the Arkansas for a great distance, but inclines gradually to 
the north-east, and joins White river about two hundred miles above its 
mouth. It affords a considerable body of choice land, but is subject to 
very sudden rises, which overflow its banks, and have retarded, to some 
extent, the further settlement of its valley. 

Such are the principal tributaries of White river ; a stream which is 
navigable, with keel-boats of thirty tons burden, to the foot of Buffalo 
Shoals, a distance of seven hundred miles from its mouth, and may be 
ascended with light vessels five hundred miles higher. It draws its 
waters from a district of country about three hundred miles in width, by 
seven or eight hundred in length, having on its borders and tributaries 
large bodies of very rich lands, mixed with much that is poor and unfit 
for cultivation : but, taking into view its advantageous situation for com- 
merce, its political relation to the two Territories, in a part of each of 
which it lies, and the extensive bodies of farming-lands on James river, 
Buffalo Fork, and Black river, we may anticipate the period when a 
large population shall find their support on its banks — when numerous 
villages and towns shall decorate its shores, and the productive labor of 
its inhabitants swell greatly the commerce of the western country, while 
they themselves command an important influence in its political trans- 
actions. 

One of the most interesting events connected with the history of this 
river, is the visit paid to it by De Soto in 1542. The place of his crossing 
it is not certainly known. 



STEAM NAVIGATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 



Steamboats were first introduced on the Mississippi about 1812 ; and, 
■within seven years of that time, not less than fifty boats, of all classes, 
had been built. The following list, which I made in 1819, embraces all 
the steam-vessels which are known to have been put upon that stream 
and its tributaries, prior to that era, and is believed to give with accuracy 
their names and tonnage. 

Fulton's first successful experiment in the application of Savary's 
steam-engine, as improved by Watt and Bolton, to the propulsion of ves- 
sels, dates in 1807 ; so that but five years elapsed before the invention 
was introduced, and twelve years before it was spread, on the western 
waters. The impracticability of navigating those waters by the force of 
sails, caused the invention to be hailed there with acclamation ; and this 
explains the cause of its rapid multiplication. 

No. Names. Tons. No. Names. Tons. 



1. Etna 200 

2. Vesuvius 280 

3. Orleans 200 

4. Alabama 300 

5. Columbus 400 

6. Tamerlane 200 

7. James Ross 250 

8. United States 500 

9. Paragon 250 

10. Thomas Jefferson 200 

11. Ohio ..300 

12. General Jackson 100 

13. Maysville 152 

14. Exchange 154 

15. Volcano 140 

16. Madison 100 

17. Kentucky 60 

18. Hecla 100 

19. Napoleon 200 

20. Washington 150 

21. Buffalo 100 

22. James Monroe 70 

23. Cincinnati 85 

24. St. Louis 200 

25. General Pike 75 

26. Independence 100 



27. St. Louis Packet 150 

28. Ramapo 100 

29. Rising States 150 

30. Maid of Orleans 100 

31. Hamlet 100 

32. Perseverance 50 

33. Johnson 75 

34. Eagle 100 

Vesta 110 

Harriet 40 

Constitution 45 

Louisiana 60 

Governor Shelby 60 

40. Franklin 80 

41. Rifleman 60 

42. Newport 45 

43. Expedition 150 

General Clark 150 

Henderson 150 

Tornado 250 

Elizabeth 175 

48. Missouri Packet 100 

49. Post-Boy (for pas'gers only) .. . 

50. Western Engineer 40 



35. 
36. 
37. 
38. 
39. 



44. 
45. 

46. 
47. 



Total. 



,7306 



(239) 



240 APPENDIX. 

In addition to these, there are two new boats building at Pittsburgh, 
one at Wheeling, one at Steubenville, one at Marietta, two at Cincinnati, 
one at Frankfort, two at Shippingport, one at Madison, and two at New 
Albany, making a total number of sixty-three. There are also several 
more in contemplation, so that it is probable another year will consider- 
ably augment the number. The first steamboat on the western waters 
was built at Pittsburgh in 1811, eight years ago. Hence it appears there 
has been an average increase of eight boats per annum ; but by far the 
greatest proportion have been built within the last three years. 

7306 tons, at 4 cents per lb. freight up from New Orleans, 

amounts to $584,480 00 

7306 tons, at 1 cent per lb. freight down to New Orleans . . . 146,120 00 

10 passengers down in each boat, at $60 39,800 00 

5 " up in each boat, at $100 31,500 00 



$801,900 00 



It is presumable that each boat will perform three trips to and from New 
Orleans per annum, which will make an aggregate amount of freight and 
passage money of $2,405,700 per annum. From this, some idea of the 
trade, population, and business of the vast valley of the Mississippi, may 
be formed. And let it be remembered, at the same time, that the trans- 
portation of merchandise is not wholly done by steamboats. The Ohio 
and Mississippi are still lined with keel-boats and barges ; and much of 
the produce is still carried to market in flat-bottomed boats, of a tempo- 
rary construction, which are not calculated to ascend the stream, and are 
therefore generally sold for a trifle, or abandoned. 

The following is extracted from a comparative statement of the increase 
of the principal articles of produce which arrived at the New Orleans 
market during a period of three years. 

Productions. 1815. 1816. 1817. 

Bacon and hams, cwt 7,000 13,000 18,000 

Butter, lbs 500 1,800 

Cotton, bales 60,000 65,000 65,000 

Corn, bushels 120,000 130,000 140,000 

Flour, barrels 75,000 98,000 190,000 

Molasses, gallons 500,000 800,000 ' 1,000,000 

Pork, barrels 8,000 9,700 22,000 

Sugar, hhds 5,000 7,300 28,000 

Taffia, gallons 150,000 300,000 400,000 

Tobacco, hhds 5,000 7,300 28,000 

Wheat, bushels 95,000 

Whiskey, gallons 150,000 230,000 250,000 



ANTIQUITIES AND INDIAN HISTORY. 



SOME ARTICLES OF CURIOUS WORKMANSHIP FOUND IN AN 
ANCIENT BARROW. 

An opinion is entertained by many well-informed persons in the 
United States, that the country has, at some remote period, been inha- 
bited by a civilized people, prior to its settlement or subjugation by the 
savages. To the many evidences furnished to strengthen this opinion, 
by the remnants of fortifications, tumuli, &c., may be added the disco- 
very of several articles of antiquarian value, and of singular workman- 
ship, of glass, or antique enamel, lately made on the eastern shores of 
lake Erie. 

I have had an opportunity of examining a specimen of these antique 
glasses, and, on the authority of my informant, am enabled to remark 
that they were taken up about two months ago, from an ancient barrow 
in the town of Hamburg, where they were found deposited in an earthen 
pot. Contiguous to this pot were also found a skull, and some other 
human remains, thought to be of an unusual size. This mound, or sup- 
posed repository of the dead, is situated in an uncultivated part of the 
town, and several trees were growing upon it at the time the excavation 
was made; some of which were judged to be upwards of two feet in 
diameter. 

The glass relic which I had an opportunity to examine, (and I am told 
they are all alike,) is in the form of a large barrel-shaped bead, consisting 
of a tube of transparent green glass, covered with an opaque coarse red 
enamel. Its length is nine-tenths of an inch, its greatest width six and 
a half tenths of an inch, and the bore of the tube two-tenths of an inch. 
Near the circle of the bore of this tube, is an aperture of the size of a 
large needle, perforating the tube from one end to the other. The enamel 
which coviers the tube of transparent glass appears to have been orna- 
mented with painting, in figures resembling a spindle, or two inverted 
sections of a circle ; bu-t they are now hardly perceptible, as the bead 
appears to have been considerably worn. 

21 Q (241) 



242 APPENDIX. 

But the circumstance most indicative of art in the making of this head, 
is a species of enamelling which has been performed both on the external 
and internal surfaces of the tube, previous to its being covered by the 
coarse red enamel. This second enamel is white, and, as the external 
surface of the tube was not smooth, but in parallel strie or veins, exhibits 
the appearance of a white vine between the green tube and the red 
enamel. This enamelling appears to have been done, not by melting on 
any vitreous composition, as is practised at the present day, but by the 
effect of calcination for some time in a low red heat. This, it is known, 
will deprive glass, especially green glass, of its transparency, and render 
the surface white to a certain depth. 

The composition of the tube of glass, I have judged to be simply a 
eilicious sand and an alkali, probably with a small addition of lime or 
vegetable ashes. It is hard, and will not receive scratches like the lead 
glasses ; and I conclude from this circumstance that there is no lead in 
the composition. Its color seems also owing to the impurity of the mate- 
rials employed, like the common window and bottle glass, and is probably 
caused by a minute portion of iron, in the state of an oxide, combined 
with the sand and alkali. 

The red enamel covering the tube, and the pot in which these glasses 
were found, seem to have been constructed of similar materials, as they 
differ very little in color, texture, or other external character. Probably 
a very fusible brick-clay, highly impregnated with the oxide of iron, and 
pulverized fragments of green glass, are the principal ingredients of both. 
The earthen pot is manifestly constructed of different materials from 
those employed for brown pottery at the present period. It is a more 
imperishable substance, of a close texture, and vitreous appearance. 

I shall not presume to speculate in opinions which discoveries of this 
interesting nature are calculated to create ; it may, however, here be 
added, that the fabrication of these glasses would suppose a perfection in 
the arts, which none of the Indian tribes inhabiting this country at the 
period of its discovery, had arrived at. That if introduced by the French 
from Canada, in their earliest communications with the Indians inhabit- 
ing the western parts of the State of New York, a sufficient time would 
hardly have elapsed for the growth of trees of such size as were found 
upon the mound from which these relics were taken. And that, if not 
introduced by the French at the period alluded to, we must refer their 
manufacture back to a very remote date, and one on which Indian tradi- 
tion is wholly silent. 

Since visiting the western country, I have had occasion to notice a 
similar discovery on Big river, in the Territory of Missouri. On opening 
an Indian grave (or what was considered such) on the bank of this river, 
several beads of glass, of a similar character, were found. They were 
accompanied by many bones of the human frame, of extraordinary size, 
and which indicated, to common observation, a stature of seven or eight 



ANCIENT INDIAN CEMETERY. 243 

feet in height. The person appeared to have been deformed, either by 
birth or accident, as the right jaw-bone ran in a straight line from the 
mouth back, while the left preserved the usual curve. The excavation 
■was made near the edge of the stream, where the soil is a rich alluvion, 
and covered b}'' a heavy growth of forest trees, such as are peculiar to 
the richest Ohio and Mississippi bottom-lands. We may add, that it cor- 
responds best vsith history and probability to attribute these relics to the 
early period of the fur-trade. 



ANCIENT INDIAN CEMETERY IN THE VALLEY OF THE 
MARAMEC RIVER. 

In the autumn of 1818, the existence of a number of small tumuli, or 
antique Indian graves, was made known in the valley of the Maramoc. 
This discovery was made about fifteen miles south of St. Louis. Curiosity 
led several persons to visit the spot and examine them, and my attention 
•was thus called to the subject. It was conjectured that the bones found 
in these graves were the remains of a race of beings much smaller than 
those of the present day. 

The essential facts connected with these discoveries, are these : — The 
tumuli, which are small, occupy a wood near the dwelling of a Mr. Long. 
The attention of this gentleman was arrested by this smallness of ceme- 
terial dimensions, or place of burial. Drs. Walker and Grayson, of St. 
Louis, proceeded to the spot, opened several of the graves, and examine'd 
their contents. The length of the stature of the interred persons, mea- 
sured by their stony casings, varied from twenty-three inch^, to four feet 
two or three inches. But the skeletons, with the exception of the teeth, 
were reduced to a complete limy substance, and their forms destroyed. 
The graves had originally been cased with rude flat stones at the sides, 
and also at the head and feet. A flat stone had also, in some instances, 
been laid over the top, and earth piled on the grave, above the surface 
of the ground, to the general height of three feet. This was a charac- 
teristic feature, and seemed designed to mark the locality. In this stony 
coffin, all the softer and destructible parts of the body had submitted to 
decay, with the exception before mentioned — the teeth. The examination 
of these became, therefore, the principal source of interest. They found 
the enamel perfect, and were surprised to discover that they were the 
teeth of rather young persons, who had, however, passed the age of 
puberty. The molars and incisors were of the ordinary dimensions and 
character of second teeth. The jaw-bone of the first specimen examined, 
appeared to have its full complement, except the dentis sapienta, which 



244 APPENDIX. 

physiologists do not generally recognize until after the ages of eighteen 
to twenty-three. 

Many graves were examined, which differed more or less in length, 
between the extremes stated, but agreed in their general conformity of 
parts ; from all which, these gentlemen came to the conclusion that the 
remains denoted a stature of inferior size, while appearances indicated a 
remote antiquity as the epoch of burial, which might as well be supposed 
to be five centuries as one. This antiquity was inferred, as well from 
the reduction of the bones to their elements, a8 from the growth of large 
trees upon the graves, the roots of which penetrated into their recesses. 

Upon this exhibition of facts, a legal gentleman* of intelligence calls 
attention, with great pertinency, to the ancient manners and customs of 
the Indians, in the burial of their dead. 

"As yet, I have seen no attempt to account for the size and appearance 
of these skeletons, upon any other supposition than that they are the 
remains of a people far less in size than any known at the present day. 
Unwilling to adopt a belief so contrary to the general order of nature, 
and to the history of the human species, so far as it has been transmitted 
to us, I shall hazard some conjectures upon the subject, which I think 
will, in some measure, tend to dissolve the mystery that hovers over these 
bones, and to reconcile their appearance with the general history of our 
race. To be sure. Nature, in her sport, has now and then produced mon- 
sters. A taste for the marvellous among travellers and historians, has 
occasionally conjured up a race of giants, or a nation of pigmies ; but 
when the light of truth has reached us from the distant corners of the 
earth, where they were said to dwell, we have found them to assume the 
size, shape, and attitude of men, and nothing more. So far as observa- 
tion or history extends, we find the species nearly the same in all ages 
and in all countries. Climate has had some effect upon the size, and 
upon the c(^iiplexion. The excessive cold of the north has shortened an 
inch or two the necks of the Esquimaux, and the heat of the south has 
colored the African. But what, in this genial climate, should make 
dwarfs? It is here, if anywhere, that we should naturally expect to find 
giants ! All the other productions of nature are here brought forth in 
the highest perfection. And shall man here grow a pigmy ? Unless we 
are ready to adopt the opinion of certain naturalists, that the human 
species are the legitimate descendants of the apes, and that they once 
wore tails, and were of their diminutive size — unless we are ready to 
believe the history of the Lilliputians, and of Tom Thumb — I think we 
shall discard the idea of a nation of dwarfs, as wholly preposterous. But 
how, on any other supposition, shall we account for the appearances upon 
the farm of Mr. Long? 

" None of the graves found there exceed four feet in length, many of 

* Rufus Pettibone, Esq., of St. Louis. 



ANCIENT INDIAN CEMETERY. 245 

them fall short of three, and the teeth found in all of them show that 
they contain the remains of human beings who had arrived at years of 
maturity. The manners and customs of the Indians with respect to the 
treatment of their dead, will, I think, solve all difficulties, and satisfac- 
torily account for these ajDpearances, without doing violence to nature. 
According to the testimony of travellers and historians, it has been the 
custom among many tribes of Indians to hang their dead in baskets upon 
trees and scaffolds, until their flesh was consumed, and then to take them 
down, clean their bones, and bury them. There existed an order of men 
among them called hone-pickers, with long nails like claws, whose business 
and profession it was to clean the unconsumed flesh from the bones, pre- 
vious to burial. This custom still exists among the Indians on the waters 
of the Missouri, and rationally accounts for the appearances upon the 
farm of Mr. Long. The bones of a skeleton of the ordinary size, when 
separated, would naturally occupy a grave of three or four feet in length. 
It appears that in all the graves which were opened, the bones, except 
the teeth, were reduced to a chalky substance, so that it would be impos- 
sible to know, with any certainty, in what state, condition, or form, they 
were deposited there. These skeletons are said to rest on their sides. 
Taking this fact to be true, it goes to strengthen my ideas on this subject. 
In burying a corpse, it is natural, and, so far as we are acquainted, 
universally the custom, to bury them with the face upwards. We can 
look upon our dead friends with a melancholy complacency — we cast a 
long and lingering look after them until they are completely shut from 
our view in the grave ; and nothing is more hard and heart-rending than 
to t«ar our last looks from them. It is natural, then, that the body 
should be placed in such a position as most to favor this almost universal 
desire of the human heart. But, in burying a skeleton, it would be as 
natural to avert the horrid grin of a death's-head from us. To face the 
grinning skeleton of a friend, must fill us with horror and disgust. ' Turn 
away the horrid sight,' would be the language of nature. If we adopt 
my supposition as correct in this case, all the facts correspond with 
nature. But if we adopt the opinion of a recent writer, our conclusions 
will be at war with nature, reason, and universal observation." 

The following observations by the Rev. J. M. Peck, of St. Louis, may 
also here be added : 

" One grave was opened which measured four feet in length ; this was 
formed by laying a flat stone at the bottom, placing one on each side, 
one at each end, and covering the mouth with another. In the last cir- 
cumstance, this grave differed from the others that were opened ; the 
contents were a full-grown skeleton, with the head and teeth, part of the 
spine, the thigh and leg bones, in a tolerable state of preservation. The 
leg-bones were found parallel with the bones of the thighs, and every 
appearance indicated, either that the corpse had been entombed with the 
legs and thighs placed so as to meet, or that a skeleton had been depo- 

21* 



246 APPENDix. 

sited in this order. The first opinion seems the most probable, from the 
fact that a large stone pipe was found in the tomb, which I understand 
is now in the possession of Mr. Long." 

Both implements of war, and of domestic use, are buried with the dead 
bodies of the Indians ; but it admits of a query if they are ever depoHited 
■with the mere skeleton. 

" It is a well-known fact," says Bishop Madison, while writing on the 
supposed fortifications of the western country,* " that, among many of 
the Indian tribes, the bones of the deceased are annually collected and 
deposited in one place, that the funeral rites are then solemnized with 
the warmest expressions of love and friendship, and that tbis untutored 
race, urged by the feelings of nature, consign to the bosom of the earth, 
along with the remains of their deceased relatives, food, weapons of war, 
and often those articles they possessed, and most highly valued, when 
alive." 

This fact is substantiated from various respectable sources. The pious 
custom of collecting the relics of the dead, which accident, or the events 
of a battle, might have dispersed through the wilderness, easily accounts 
for the graves on the Maramec, as well as explains the origin of the arti- 
ficial mounds in the vicinity. If these were opened, there would be 
found promiscuously deposited the bones of the aborigines, which pious 
veneration, from year to year and from century to century, industriously 
collected. The cemetery alluded to, on the plantation of Mr. Long, may 
be viewed as the public burial-place of some powerful nation of the some 
size, and similar customs, with other Indians. 



WWW\/WVW>I 



OSAGES. 

This tribe claims, as original possessors, the territories of the Ozarks, 
over which my journeys have chiefly laid. They claim all the country 
north of the Arkansas, to the Maramec. The term Ozark appears to me 
to be compounded from Osage and Arkansas. 

They are manly, good-looking, stout-limbed men, erratic in their mode 
of life, living a part of the year in fixed villages, and roving with their 
families through the forests, in search of game, the remainder. Their 
territories are immense. 

The Osages, if we may judge from popular opinion, are very much in 
the condition of the sons of Ishmael — "Their hand is against every man, 

* See American Philosophical Transactions, Vol. VI. 



THE OSAGES. 247 

and every man's hand against them." It is remarkable that they pos- 
sess so much skill as they do in public negotiations, which they manage 
with address, with a bold, direct air, employing enlarged thoughts and 
phrases, which are calculated to impress the hearer favorably as to their 
mental abilities. 

But little opportunity has been had of personal observation ■"on their 
manners and customs. Their mode of encampment has been seen, and 
is so arranged as to place the chiefs of the village, or camp, in the posi- 
tion of honor. It is stated that, at daybreak, a public crier makes pro- 
clamation of the expected events and duties of the day, which, to ears 
uninitiated, sounds like a call to prayer. I fancy the prayer of Indians, 
if they pray at all, is for deer and buffalo. 

It appears from the manuscript records of General William Clark, at 
St. Louis, which I have been permitted to see, that they have a tale, or 
fiction, of their origin from a snail and beaver. If this is an allegory, 
we are to suppose that persons bearing these names were their progeni- 
tors. I avail myself of the public interpreter of the language to submit 
the following vocabulary of it.* 

* Omitted. 



EXTRACTS FROM THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 



Notice of " A View of the Lead-Mines of Missouri, including some Observa- 
tions on the Mineralogy, Geology, Geography, Antiquities, Soil, Climate, 
Population, and Productions, of Missouri and Arkansas, and other sections 
of the Western Country; accompanied by three Engravings. By Henry 
R. Schoolcraft, Corresponding Member of the Lyceum of Natural His- 
tory of New York." 1821. 

As this work has been more than a year before the American public, 
and is already well known, it may seem superfluous to make any remarks 
upon it at so late a period. It was our purpose to have given it an early 
notice, but circumstances which could not be controlled, prevented. Still, 
as it is devoted to subjects which form a prominent object in this Journal, 
and is, as far as we are informed, the only elaborate and detailed account 
of a mining district in the United States, we are not disposed to remain 
silent, especially as the discharge of the duty is not likely to be painful, 
either to ourselves or to the author. Reviews iu form, although within 
the plan of this Journal, do not constitute one of its most leading objects, 
and we do not hold ourselves responsible for analyses or even for notices 
of new American books, unless they appear particularly interesting or 
important, or hold a very intimate connexion with the great design of our 
work. 

We have already intimated that we regard Mr. Schoolcraft's work in 
this light. We take it for granted that the statements of facts made by 
this author, are both faithful and accurate ; the information which we 
have incidentally derived from other sources, certainly countenances this 
impression, but the whole amount of it is small, compared with the details 
contained in the present volume. 

Mr. Schoolcraft's opportunities for observation were extensive, particu- 
larly in relation to the mines of lead in the Missouri region. Among 
those mines he spent a year. " I have made (says he) a personal exami- 
nation of every mine of consequence, with a view to ascertain its general 
character and value and its peculiarities. I have travelled on foot over 
the whole mine country, exploring its minerals, its geological structure, 
its geographical position, soil, climate, productions, towns, streams, set- 

(248) 



REVIEW. 249 

tlements, and whatever else appeared to me to be necessary to describe, 
explain and illustrate the subject before me." 

Mr. Schoolcraft appears to have made good use of the advantages 
■which he enjoyed, and his countrymen are indebted to him for a great 
amount of valuable information. He appears also to have studied the 
observations of preceding writers, and, with their works before him, it 
was in his power to correct errors and to supply deficiencies. 

He has prefixed an historical sketch which we presume will be accepta- 
ble to every reader. The French, as is well known, were the original 
discoverers and settlers of the Missouri, and Hlinois regions, which were 
embraced in their vast scheme of forming a chain of posts and settle- 
ments from the mouth of the St. Lawrence, to that of the Mississippi. 
They did not occupy the country of the Missouri and Illinois till more 
than a century after the settlement of Quebec, and about a century before 
the present period. At that time, (1720,) the lead mines were discovered 
by Philip Francis Kenault, and M. La Motte, and by them they were 
wrought, although they and the adventurers under them were disap- 
pointed in their expectations of finding gold and silver. 

At the end of about half a century, the country passed into the hands 
of the Spaniards, and under their dominion, probably about forty years 
since, the principal mine was discovered by a man of the name of Burton, 
and from him it has derived the name of Mine h Burton. 

It appears that the processes of mining under the Spaniards were very 
imperfect, as they obtained only fifty per cent, of lead from the ore, threw 
away the lead ashes, and did not attempt any manufactures of shot or 
any other articles. They employed only the open log furnace. 

In 1797, Closes Austin, Esq., a native of Connecticut, who had been 
occupied with lead mines in Wythe county, in Virginia, obtained from 
the Spanish government, a grant of a league square in- the mining district 
in consideration of his introducing a reverberatory furnace. He sunk 
the first regular shaft — the mining having, till that time, been prosecuted 
solely by open digging, in the manner of quarries. Mr. Austin also 
introduced the manufacture of shot, and that of sheet lead soon followed. 
About the same time several other American families collected at the 
mines, and infused new spirit and enterprise into the mining operations, 
so that they were carried on with considerable vigour at the time when 
(in 1803) the country was transferred to the United States. Mr. School- 
craft, from whom these facts are taken, remarks, that since 1804, the 
number of mines has been astonishingly multiplied — population has 
flowed rapidly in — the processes on the ore have been much improved — 
better furnaces have been constructed, and "every season is adding to 
the number of the mines." "Every day is developing to us the vast 
resources of this country, particularly in lead," and the author expresses 
his opinion that "the mines of Missouri are paralleled by no other mineral 
district in the world." 



250 APPENDIX. 

From the specimens which we possess of this ore, and from the docu- 
ments produced by the author respecting the produce of the mines, we 
believe his opinion is correct, especially if we consider the fact that " the 
earth has not yet been penetrated over eighty feet;" " we know not what 
may be found in the lower strata." "There is reason to believe that the 
main bodies of ore have not been hit upon, that they lie deeper, and that 
we have thus far been only engaged upon the spurs and detached masses." 

Mr. Schoolcraft informs us that although the mining business is much 
improved, there is still a great deficiency both of capital and of skill — 
there is in the whole district but one regular hearth furnace for smelting, 
and that not the best; — among forty mines, there are only four or five 
regular shafts — there is among all the mines, no engine of any description 
for raising water, and some of the richest mines with the best prospects 
in view, have been in consequence abandoned. Yet, under all these dis- 
advantages, the annual produce of the mines is estimated at three millions 
of pounds of lead. 

The author suggests the expediency of establishing a school of mines 
and minerals in the midst of the mines themselves ; this would, without 
doubt, be a very proper measure, but in the meantime, skilful practical 
miners, and captains of mines, such as are found in every mining district 
in Europe, would supply the immediate demands of the country. 

The mining district, formerly called the lead mines of Louisiana, is 
situate between the 37th and the 38th degree of north latitude, and be- 
tween the 89th and 92d degree of west longitude, covers three thousand 
one hundred and fifty square miles — it is from seventy to one hundred 
miles long by forty or forty-five, extending in width from the Mississippi 
southwest to the Fourche h Courtois, and in length from the head waters 
of St. Francis northerly to the Maramec. 

Lead ore is found in almost every part of this district. Mr. Schoolcraft 
says, "the general aspect of the country is sterile, though not mountain- 
ous : the lands lie rolling, like a body of water in gentle agitation. In 
Bome places the hills rise into abrupt clifi"s, where the great rock forma- 
tions of the country may be seen ; in others, they run into level plains — 
a kind of highland prairie." 

"The soil is a reddish colored clay, stiff and hard, and full of fragments 
of flinty stones, quartz and gravel ; this extends to the depth of from ten 
to twenty feet, and is bottomed on limestone rock. It is so compact in 
some places, as almost to resist the pick-axe ; in others it seems to par- 
take of marl, is less gravelly, and readily penetrated. The country is 
particularly characterized by quartz, which is strewed in detached pieces 
over the surface of the ground, and is also found imbedded in the soil at 
all depths. This is here called blossom of lead. Iron ores and pyrites 
are also scattered over the surface of the ground, and occasionally lead 
ore. Such is the general character of the mineral hills, which are inva- 
riably covered by a stinted growth of oaks." 



REVIEW. 251 

Walnut is also found on the hills, and there is a ridge of yellow pine, 
not more than six or eight miles wide, running nearly southeast and 
northwest, but it is nearlj' or quite destitute of lead — the mines lie gene- 
rally east of it. In summer the flinty aspect of the country is veiled by a 
luxuriant growth of grass, which gives it a very pleasing and picturesque 
appearance." 

The valleys have a rich alluvial soil, well fitted for cultivation ; but our 
limits will not allow us to mention the vegetable productions of the coun- 
try. This region is well irrigated, and very healthy, being possessed of 
a fine climate. Mr. Schoolcraft remarks, that during a residence of ten 
months he never heard of a death ; the country is free from the fevers 
■which infest some of the neighboring regions. It seems, however, that 
the animals are visited by what is called the mine sickness. " Cows and 
horses are frequently seen to die without any apparent cause. Cats and 
dogs are taken with violent fits, which never fail, in a short time, to kill 
them." It is said that the inhabitants impute these affections to the sul- 
phur exhaled in smelting the lead, as the cattle are often seen licking 
about the old furnaces. But sulphur is not poisonous either to men or 
animals. The author imputes it to the sulphate of barytes, with which 
the district abounds, which he states is a " poison to animals." 

The carbonate of barytes is eminently poisonous ; but we have never 
heard that the sulphate is so. May not the licking around the furnaces 
expose the cattle to receive lead in some of its forms, minutely divided ? 
or, if it be not active in the metallic state, both the oxides and the 
carbonate, which must of course exist around the furnaces, would be 
highly active and poisonous. Is it not possible, also, that some of the 
natural waters of the country may, in consequence of saline or acid 
impregnations, dissolve some of the lead, and thus obtain saturnine 
qualities ? We must allow, however, that we are not acquainted with the 
existence of any natural water thus impregnated. 

Among the mineral productions of this region, certainly not the least 
remarkable mentioned by Mr. Schoolcraft, is the Iron Mountain, where 
the ore is piled in such enormous masses as to constitute the entire south- 
ern extremity of a lofty ridge, which is elevated five or six hundred feet 
above the plain : the ore is the micaceous exide, and is said to yield good 
malleable iron. 

There is another body of iron ore five miles west of the iron mountain, 
scarcely inferior to that mentioned above, and it appears that several 
other beds exist in the same vicinity. 

Zinc is abundant, but as the ore is the sulphuret, it is not very valua- 
ble. It is not mentioned that calamine, which is the useful ore of zinc, 
has been found. 

As to the geological nature of the country, in which the lead mines are 
situate, he informs us that " Bellevue abounds in granite ;" that the only- 
vein of granite rock in the mine country (as far as ho had epportunity to 



252 APPENDIX. 

observe) passes across the southwestern end of Madison county — runs 
into Bellevue- — is four or five miles wide, and twenty or thirty miles in a 
direction from southeast to northwest. 

The granite is spoken of in another place, (p. 170,) as being a geologi- 
cal phenomenon, as containing imbedded in it or lying upon its surface, 
gneiss, green stone, porphyry, iron ores, &c.; it is spoken of as a red 
granite, containing very little mica, and as being used for mill-stones. 
It is mentioned as the " only mass of granite known to exist between the 
primitive ranges of the Alleghany and Rocky mountains," and as being 
surrounded on all sides, and to an almost immeasurable extent, with 
secondary limestone. 

Again, (p. 193,) the granite is cited as the "old red granite in mountain 
masses, with some veins of green stone, green stone porphyry, and 
gneiss;" it is said to terminate in very rough and bi'oken high lands. 
At page 213, it is mentioned, still again, as giving origin to the river St. 
Francis, whose "springs gush out among these stupendous piles of red 
granite." Besides the ores of iron, lead and zinc, " quartz, feldspar, 
shorl, mica, and graphite are among the minerals furnished by that 
region, and "green stone, gneiss, and green stone porphyry, are among 
the larger masses of rock." The green stone, it seems, " is found in 
large isolated fragments, lying promiscuously among the fragments of 
granite which have tumbled down from the lofty cliflfs above, and is ren- 
dered porphyritic by crystals of green and flesh-colored feldspar." 

We have no right to doubt that the rock described .is granite, as the 
principal features delineated, correspond with that supposition. As it is 
described as being solitary, the only granite between the Alleghanies and 
the Rocky mountains, we are led to ask, is it a portion of the nucleus 
of our globe, covered on every side, for many hundred miles, with secon- 
dary rocks, and here heaving its head through the superincumbent strata, 
and standing alone ? But what are we to conclude of the limestone ? We 
should have liked especially to have had the relations of this limestone 
with that remarkable granite region pointed out. Does this latter repose 
on the granite, where it dips obliquely under, as it probably docs, in 
order to find its way beneath the other rocks, and to vindicate its claim 
to a fundamental position ? But, perhaps we are asking more than is 
reasonable, for, it may be that there are no such sections in the strata as 
would expose all these facts to view, and enable the observer to decide. 

These hints we have dropped, not, we trust, from a captious disposition, 
but because we have found a real difficulty in conceiving clearly of the 
geological nature of this limestone, which, it seems, is the basis of the 
lead-mine country, and therefore it is very important that its characters 
should be indubitably fixed. Wo have not been so fortunate as to see 
Mr, Schoolcraft's specimens ; possibly a view of them would have ren- 
dered the preceding remarks, in part at least, unnecessary. 

Leaving the geological features of the lead-mine district, we proceed to 



REVIEW. 253 

cite some interesting and important facts from Mr. Schoolcraft's work : — 
" The soil," he remarks, " is a reddish colored clay, stiff and hard, and 
full of fraj^ments of flinty stone, quartz and gravel ; this extends to the 
depth of from ten to twenty feet, and is bottomed on limestone rock. It 
is 80 compact in some places as almost to resist the pick-axe ; in others it 
seems to partake of marl, is less gravelly, and readily penetrated. The 
country is particularly characterized by quartz, which is strewed in 
detached pieces over the surface of the ground, and is also fuund imbedded 
in the soil at all depths. This is here called blossom of lead. Iron ores 
and pyrites are also scattered over the surface of the ground, and occa- 
sionally lead ore. The mineral productions of the country, in addition to 
lead, are zinc, iron, ochre, red chalk, saltpetre, sulphur, alum and salt." 

The ore (the author remarks) is the lead glance, galena, or sulphuret 
of lead. It is very rich and beautiful, and specimens in our possession 
fully confirm Mr. Schoolcraft's account ; they have a very broad and per- 
fectly foliated fracture, and a high degree of metallic lustre ; they break 
in cubical fragments, and the minutest portions still retain this form. 

We have already observed that large fragments are found loose in the 
earth : they sometimes weigh four or five pounds ; we have such speci- 
mens from these mines ; they are of a cubical form, and are surrounded, 
except whore they have Vjeen broken, by an earthy incrustation. 

It is observed that the marly earth thrown out from the pits, enriches 
the ground, so that in a few years it is covered with a very rank growth 
of trees, vines, &c., and this is a regular characteristic of old diggings. 
Innumerable portions of radiated quartz, and sharp fragments of flinty 
stones are mixed with the clay, and form the first stratum of about four- 
teen inches. The next is of a red clay, and is four or five feet thick, and 
less mixed with similar siliceous substances. Then comes a layer of 
gravel and rounded siliceous pebbles, about one foot thick, containing 
small portions of lead ore. The thickness of the bed of ore is generally 
a foot ; and the lumps of ore appear to have been rounded by attrition, 
like common gravel. " This is the character of what is called the gravel 
ore, and no spars are found accompanying it. The greatest proportion 
of lead ore is, however, found imbedded in, and accompanied by, the 
sulphate of barytes, resting in a thick stratum of marly clay, bottomed 
on limestone rock." They invariably arrive at the rock at the depth of 
from fifteen to twenty, or sometimes thirty feet ; a new process by boring 
and blasting is now necessary, and most diggers abandon their pits 
rather than prosecute them at this expense. If, however, as there can 
be little doubt, the limestone is the real matrix of the lead ore, the time 
■will come when the present diggings will be considered as merely super- 
ficial beginnings, and the work will be resumed where hitherto it has 
been abandoned. It seems that the almost invariable practice of the 
miners is, to persevere till they strike the rock, and then to go and dig 
elsewhere ; they cannot, if disposed, prosecute the business by levels or 
22 



254 APPENDIX. 

galleries, for they are not permitted to carry on their mining except 
immediately under the surface that is covered by their respective leases, 
or by twelve feet square, which, if unoccupied, an adventurer may cover 
by occupancy. Among the substances accompanying the lead, blende 
and the sulphate of barytes are said to be very abundant ; the latter in 
epecimens which we have, is particularly brilliant and white ;* the quartz 
is often prettily crystallized, and is so invariable a concomitant of the ore, 
that the miners, as we have before remarked, give it the meaning appella- 
tion of mineral blossom. 

A curious fact is mentioned by Mr. Schoolcraft, respecting the Elliott's 
mines. "During the remarkable earthquakes of 1812, a fine spring of 
water at the mouth of the mines suddenly became warm and foul, and in 
a few days dried up entirely, and no water has run there since." " Illu- 
minations in the atmosphere are frequently observed in this vicinity on 
the approach of night."! 

It seems thei'e is a considerable quantity of a greyish white sublimate 
collected at the log hearth furnaces, and rejected by the workmen upon 
the supposition that it is sulphur and arsenic ; but Mr. Schoolcraft, by 
unquestionable experiments, ascertained that it was lead, as would 
appear, in the form of a carbonated oxide. A considerable loss is in this 
manner sustained, and in a more advanced state of the metallurgic ope- 
rations of these mines, the author's valuable suggestions will not be 
neglected. There is one mine (M'Kain's) where the ore is of the steel- 
grained variety — it is said to yield less lead, and is inferred to contain 
more silver than the common ores ; we are aware that this is the common 
impression, but our own experiments on different varieties of lead ore 
would induce us to think that it cannot be relied upon. We have exam- 
ined fine 8teel-grained ore which coutained very little silver ; in one spe- 
cimen only one five-thousandth part, and in another, and that a foliated 
specimen, we found three and a half per cent, of silver. 

The methods of digging for the ore are sufiiciently simple. " A pick-axe 
and shovel are the only tools used for removing the earth, and the drill, 
hammer and priming rod are added when it is necessary to blast." The 
process is carried on as in digging a common well. 

We must refer our readers to the book itself for a clear account of the 
furnaces and furnace operations, employed for smelting the lead ; it will 
be the more intelligible, as it is accompanied by two good plates contain- 
ing views and sections of the furnaces. A circumstance which appears 
very extraordinary is, that the furnaces are most commonly built of lime- 

* It is mentioned by the author, as a chemical test or reagent : it may, by 
decomposing it by ignition with charcoal, or with an alkaline carbonate, be made to 
afford its earth for the preparation of barytic tests, but we are not aware that it is 
itself ever used as a test. 

•j- They are attributed by the author to phosphorus. Is it supposed to be in the 
form of phosphuretted hydrogen? May not these be electrical phenomena? 



REVIEW. 255 

stone, which is of course calcined, and brought to the condition of quick- 
lime by a few blasts, and then it crumbles and the furnaces must be 
rebuilt. 

The ore yields at first fifty per cent., and then the ashes give fifteen 
per cent, more — sixty-five* in the whole.f 

Custom, says the author, has established a number of la-ivs among the 
miners, with regard to digging, which have a tendency to prevent dis- 
putes. Whenever a discovery is made, the person claiming it is entitled 
to claim the ground for twenty-five feet, in every direction from his pit, 
giving him fifty feet square. Other diggers are each entitled to twelve 
feet square, which is just enough to sink a pit, and afi"ord room for 
throwing out the earth. Each one measures and stakes off his ground ; 
and though he should not begin his woi'k for several days afterwards, no 
person will intrude upon it. On this spot he digs down, but is not allowed 
to run drifts horizontally, so as to break into or undermine the pits of 
others. If appearances are unpromising, or he strikes the rock, and 
chooses to abandon his pit, he can go on any unoccupied ground, and, 
observing the same precautions, begin anew. In such a case, the aban- 
doned pit may be occupied by any other person ; and sometimes large 
bodies of ore are found by the second occupant, by a little work, which 
would have richly rewarded the labors of the first had he persevered. 

Mr. Schoolcraft, from various particulars, infers that the average 
annual produce of the Missouri lead mines, as mentioned before, is three 
million pounds per annum, and the lead was worth in 1819, at the mines, 
four cents per pound. J For the last three years, up to 1819 inclusive, 
the produce of the mines was estimated at three million seven hundred 
twenty-six thousand six hundred and sixty-six pounds per annum of pig 
lead, which the author supposes to be not more than one half what the 
mines are capable of yielding. 

The number of miners is between eleven and twelve hundred, and the 
number of hands employed in labor at different mines is from twenty to 
two hundred and forty, including in both cases persons of all descriptions. 

Many miscellaneous topics connected with the general subject of his 
work, are introduced by Mr. Schoolcraft, such as the sections relating to 
the manufactures, and uses of lead, &c., but it is not our object to advert 
to these topics. 

Among the miscellaneous mineral productions of the western regions, 
there are some that are interesting ; and it will be seen from the author's 
table of minerals, that the list is various. There are several caverns 
which produce nitrate of potash by the usual treatment ; and Ashley's 

* According to Dr. Meade, the Missouri ore affords only a trace of silver. (See 
Bruce's Mini. Journal, vol. 1, p. 10.) 

•|- Mr. Schoolcraft thinks it may yield seventy per cent. — it gave him by analysis 
eighty-two per cent. 



256 APPENDIX. 

Cave, about eighty miles from Potosi, is said to be one of stupendous 
size, and to "afford native nitrate of potash in beautiful white crystals." 

The novaculite is mentioned as occurring on Washita, as described by 
Mr. Bringier in the present number. 

Steatite exists in abundance at the falls of St. Anthony, on the Missis- 
sippi, and is used by the Indians for pipes. 

The flu ate of lime, near Shawneetown, was described in the first 
volume of this journal. 

Among other minerals, Mr. Schoolcraft mentions chalcedony in several 
varieties, earthy oxide of lead, native copper, alum, manganese, opalized 
and agatized wood, opal, jasper, coal, gypsum, native epsom salts, pumice 
stone, agate, onyx, burr millstone, native iron, &c. ; for the localities and 
descriptions of which, we must refer to the book itself. 

Those facts of Mr. Schoolcraft's volume which relate to statistical and 
political topics, do not come within the plan of these remarks. 

During our cursory notice of this work, we have cited a number of the 
most prominent facts which it contains, both because they are in them- 
selves important, and because we were willing to call the attention of our 
readers both to them, and to the volume in which they are contained. 
Both are, in our view, entitled to great respect; and we confess ourselves 
very much indebted to Mr. Schoolci'aft for a great mass of valuable 
information, which, in a connected form, is, we believe, nowhere else to 
be found. His statements (as regai-ds the most valuable part) are drawn 
from his own research and observations, and have evidently been the 
result of much effort, and of no small share of fatigue and personal pri- 
vation. We trust that so valuable a work will not stop with a single 
edition, and perhaps we might venture to suggest to the author, that in 
a second, he might advantageously condense into one view some facts 
which are several times repeated in different parts of the volume — such 
as those respecting the granite and its connected rocks, the lead ore and 
its associated minerals, &c. 

We consider the present work as an acquisition to our means of infor- 
mation respecting our mineral resources, and believe that it must he a 
regular volume of reference for all those who are interested in the inves- 
tigation of these subjects. 



THE END. 



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